Individuals struggling with mental health and substance use disorders experience significant challenges accessing services in a timely fashion. The reasons for this are longstanding and complicated. One main issue is that the mental health system has not received the same attention as other areas of the health care system that have been supported to deliver high quality, accessible, and evidence-based care. In this session, the status quo of the mental health system will be described, followed by a comparison of the mental health system with higher performing areas of our health care system.