Victorian Community Health Centre of Kaslo Community Update – September 25, 2013 This update is intended to keep area residents aware of efforts to develop a sustainable and effective health care model for the Victorian Community Health Centre (VCHC) of Kaslo. We acknowledge the passion residents have for their health care, and we recognize the frustrations residents are feeling – both in terms of frequent emergency department closures and in terms of timely access to a doctor for their everyday health-care needs. PHYSICIANS Despite a year-long effort we have been unable to recruit physicians. Physicians have told us they were very interested in moving to Kaslo to practice, but the demands of a 24/7 emergency department were too high. These physicians have chosen to move to other communities within Interior Health. VCHC EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT As a result we have made the difficult decision to adjust emergency department hours from 24/7 to weekday coverage. We’re confident this change will enable us to attract physicians who want to be part of the community providing consistent ongoing support for people’s everyday health-care needs. This change will also help us strengthen our primary care services – currently, when a physician is called in overnight, it’s very difficult to continue with a full day’s work at the clinic the next day. That means appointments are re-scheduled and residents wait longer for consultations, check-ups, tests and prescription refills. A date has not yet been set for the change in emergency department hours. More information will be provided as soon as that has been determined. EMERGENCY TRANSPORT We understand timely access to emergency care is important to everyone in the area. We will be working with BCAS, both locally and at the provincial level, to ensure residents have the access they need - with skilled paramedics through ground and air transport - and with Interior Health’s High Acuity Response Team. CLINIC SERVICES At our consultation sessions this spring we heard that residents want better access to family practitioners who can consistently look after their ongoing health-care needs. We also heard there is an interest in more public health nursing services such as pre-natal care, immunization clinics and outreach programs. This is our priority and where we believe we can help the greatest number of residents while building the strong foundation we’d like to have in place in the Kaslo area. We are interested in working with the Kaslo and Area Health Care Work Group on a number of initiatives to strengthen clinic operations and services including: physician support, staff training, reducing the current waitlist and the potential for a Nurse Practitioner. ROSS REPORT Dr. John Ross, a Nova Scotia physician, was engaged by Interior Health in the spring of 2013 to provide a review of emergency services in the Kaslo area. His report is on the Interior Health website under About Us/Get Involved/Community Engagement. We appreciate Dr. Ross’s insight and perspective and we have acted upon a number of his recommendations to improve clinic operations. We’ll continue to use his report in our discussions with the Health Care Work Group and the Ministry of Health to explore long terms solutions to the challenges of delivering health care in our rural and remote communities. THANK YOU Thank you to area residents for your patience, and for your valuable input this spring. We look forward to working together with the Kaslo and Area Health Care Work Group on the next steps to develop a robust primary care model for VCHC. We would also like to thank Dr. Annemarie de Koker for her dedication to the community and her ongoing efforts to support clinic operations.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 15:33:34 +0000
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