Port Alberni PCN, Maternity, Palliative and Shared Care

Maternity Care, Oceanside

Dr. Kelly Hadfield is taking any referrals for perinatal care for Oceanside. If you have any pregnant women in your panel in Oceanside, please consider referring to Dr. Hadfield, as she is local.

Shared Care Port Alberni

Shared Care project has begun in Port Alberni bringing together Specialists and GPs. This project will focus on offering support to remote First Nations surrounding Port Alberni and the West Coast.

For more information and if you are interested in participating, please get a hold of Tina Biello at tbiello@cidivision.ca

Palliative Network, Port Alberni

There will be a session in Port Alberni this fall led by Drs. Wendy Johnson and Kristine Woodley to discuss palliative care in the community, looking at any gaps in care and referral processes.

Oceanside Referrals for Murray Coughtrey, RN

Oceanside RN Murray Coughtrey has opened a space on Jensen St. for any referrals to come in for shockwave therapy for musculoskeletal conditions.
Please contact Murray at primarycarens@gmail.com

New Service Announcement – Central Intake for Pediatrics

Nanaimo Pediatricians are excited to offer a central intake service for all Pediatric referrals. Central intake is demonstrated to reduce wait times and improve communication between primary care and specialist offices.

The system went live on Monday, June 19th, with all referrals now being directed through the new central fax line. The Service Announcement (click here) went to all Nanaimo primary care providers in May, along with the new Referral Form (click here).

Recognizing that referrals to Nanaimo may come from primary care providers in your community, we are reaching out with news of the service as well as to offer our support in making the referral form easily available to Central Island providers in their EMRs. Users of Profile/Intrahealth, MedAccess and Accuro can contact me directly at 250.268.4552 for instructions to upload. For any/all others, the form is available on Pathways as well as on the project website Nanaimo Pediatrics

Erin Hemmens, Project Manager, on behalf of Project Leads Dr. Michelle Francis and Dr. Jane Pegg.
250.268.4552

Learning Essential Approaches to Palliative Care (LEAP) core online course

The BC College of Family Physicians is hosting Pallium Canada’s Learning Essential Approaches to Palliative Care (LEAP) core online course for rural and remote family physicians in BC.
Details:
• August 9th and 16th, 2023.
• The session will be two half days from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

LEAP was created for healthcare professionals working in the community and provides the essential skills and competencies of the palliative care approach.  It is evidence-based, peer reviewed and evaluated and updated regularly. 

This online course includes 16 self-directed and interactive online modules completed at your own pace (approximately 8 hours of work); 2 three-hour online webinars led by a LEAP facilitator where you will work through cases and discuss the online modules; and an electronic copy of the Pallium palliative pocketbook.

Upon completion of LEAP Core Online, learners should be able to:

• promote and undertake advance care planning discussions
• assess and manage pain; delirium; gastrointestinal symptoms, hydration, and nutrition; and dyspnea
• recognize/diagnose depression, anxiety, and grief and initiate treatment plans
• develop plans to address spiritual, religious, or psychosocial needsprepare patients and families for last days and hours
• initiate essential discussions related to palliative and end-of-life care in daily work
• prepare patients and families for last days and hours
• understand and apply the criteria to be met before initiating palliative sedation

This Group Learning program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada for up to 24 Mainpro+ credits.

Through a generous bequest of one of our members, we have funding to subsidize the registration fees for those interested in this online course.

The BC College of Family Physicians is hosting Pallium Canada’s Learning Essential Approaches to Palliative Care (LEAP) core online course for rural and remote family physicians in BC on August 9 & August 16 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Please click here to register, and I will be in touch with further details.

Course-Registration-August-9-16-2023

Questions? - please don’t hesitate to contact me at 604.736.1877

Kilee Freedman
Administrative Coordinator
www.bccfp.bc.ca

Island Health news release: Island Health expands access to mental health and substance use counselling

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 7, 2023

Island Health expands access to mental health and substance use counselling

VANCOUVER ISLAND – Residents of Vancouver Island living with moderate mental health and substance use challenges now have improved access to publicly-funded, community-based counselling through the addition or expansion of partnerships with 11 counselling service providers, which will collectively have capacity to meet the counselling needs of at least 1,500 clients each year.

“People in our province have been through a lot, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the toxic drug crisis, climate emergencies including wildfires and the continued effects of colonialism and racism,” said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “These new services through Island Health give more people the support they need to manage these challenges and improve their mental wellbeing.”

The new counselling services are being put in place following Request for Proposals processes initiated by Island Health in 2022. The new services involve a mix of non-profit service providers, for-profit organizations, and in-person and virtual care. The services will provide mental health counselling and/or substance use counselling for people with moderate severity conditions.

“This represents a significant expansion and investment in community-based counselling services to improve access to these services on Vancouver Island,” said Leah Hollins, Island Health Board Chair.  “The services will help those with lower acuity needs get the help and support they need, and mitigate potential escalation in their condition.”

The new or expanded counselling services providing mental health and/or substance use counselling are:

• Cognito Health (virtual, region wide) , Trafalgar Addiction Treatment Centre (virtual, region wide)
• ​EHN Outpatient Services (Nanaimo), North Island Crisis and Counselling Services (Port Hardy)
• Pacific Centre Family Services Association (South Island)
• Sooke Family Resources Society
• West Coast Community Resources Society (Tofino/Ucluelet)
• Umbrella Society (South Island)
• Cool Aid Society (South Island)
• Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Society (Nanaimo) - Indigenous-led and delivering culturally safe services and supports for Indigenous People
• Victoria Native Friendship Centre - Indigenous-led and delivering culturally safe services and supports for Indigenous People

“Island Health is honoured to be partnering with Indigenous-led organizations as part of this expansion,” said James Hanson, Island Health’s Vice President, Acute Care North and Community Services. “We recognize Indigenous people are disproportionally impacted by mental health and substance use and acknowledge the importance of providing timely access to safe, culturally appropriate services.”

Access to the counselling services is via referral or self-referral through Island Health Mental Health and Substance Use locations. A list of locations and contact information is available at: Access - Referrals to Mental Health & Substance Use Services | Island Health.

Clients will be able to access up to 12 publicly-funded counselling sessions. The new contracts will initially run for two years and are being phased in as the service providers increase their staff and capacity to provide the services.

Central/North Island media inquiries
Dominic Abassi
250-755-7966
Dominic.Abassi@islandhealth.ca

Cowichan/South Island media inquiries:
Andrew Leyne
250-370-8908
Andrew.Leyne@islandhealth.ca

Important Message on Expanded Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Counselling

For information, residents of Vancouver Island living with moderate mental health and substance use challenges now have improved access to publicly-funded, community-based counselling through the addition or expansion of partnerships with 11 counselling service providers, which will collectively have capacity to meet the counselling needs of at least 1,500 clients each year.

To read about the new or expanded services on our website click here:

Island Health expands access to Mental Health and Substance Use Counselling

Matthew Burbidge MPA MPM | Partner Engagement & Communication Lead
Communications, Partnerships & Primary Care Strategy

Mobile: 1-250-516-9626 | matthew.burbidge@islandhealth.ca

St. Paul's Emergency Medicine Update!

We are excited to invite you to the 21st St. Paul’s Emergency Medicine Update Conference, being held at the Whistler Conference Centre from September 21-24, 2023.

Check out this year’s fantastic agenda

All of the talks focus on issues we grapple with every day and techniques that we can take to our next shift.

As always, we’ll have fun social events where you can hang out, get to know each other and meet other emergency practitioners from across Canada.

We hope to see you there!

21st St. Paul’s Emergency Medicine Update

Sep 22-25 (Thu-Sat) | Whistler Conference Centre |In-person Conference
Audience: family physicians, emergency physicians, hospitalists, internists, pediatricians, rural physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, paramedics, residents and students.

Up to 18.0 Mainpro+/MOC Section 1 Credits
LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course Back for Fall 2023

Join us this fall for the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program

Join us for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), an 8-week course specifically designed for rural healthcare providers, offered by the Mindfulness in Medicine initiative. Led by Dr. Rahul Gupta, the popular course will be returning for the Fall of 2023.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is about paying attention  to what's happening with our minds, bodies and relationships with compassionate curiosity.  On the other spectrum, during multiple crises, we often become "mindless" caught up in past biases or future worries, driven by reactive behaviour and oblivious to the interdependency of our systems.

Through practicing mindfulness, it is possible to restore a sense of vitality and agency to act in our collective best interest.

What can you expect?

This participatory and trauma-sensitive course includes:

Guided instruction in mindfulness practices, including movement.
Group inquiry and breakout sessions for deepening learning.
Review of the science of mindfulness.
Assignments for home practice.
Home practice audio materials and manual.

Date: The weekly class will begin Wednesdays, from 6:30–9:00 PM, September 20 to November 8, 2023. The all-day class is on Saturday, October 28 from 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM.

Location: Online through Zoom

Facilitator: Dr. Rahul Gupta MD, Certified MBSR Teacher

Cost: Free

Eligibility: Rural healthcare providers such as physicians, nurse practitioners and midwives.

View the Flyer: Click here

Register: Click here

Contact: For more information, please email Alison at ajames@rccbc.ca.

CBT Skills Group Program

The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Skills Group program is an eight-week group medical visit for adult patients (17.5-75 years old) who want to learn practical tools to improve their mental health. The CBT Skills Group program is a transdiagnostic course that integrates basic neuroscience concepts with introductory mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy skills and teaching. For more information about the program, please go to www.cbtskills.ca.

This program started as a small Shared Care project through the Victoria Division of Family Practice and in 2020-2021, we pivoted during COVID by making the program available virtually. At that time, we applied for a small spread project with the Comox Valley Division of Family Practice to train some of their members to become facilitators. More recently, we have received funding to make this program accessible to patients who do not reside on Vancouver Island with our provincial spread program with Shared Care.

We want to let you know that we are offering many groups this summer and fall with lots of availability for patients to get ahead of these harder times. Also, there have been a lot of changes with our programming that we would like to share. Here are some of the highlights:

• We are offering level 1 Skills for Success ADHD Strategies for Adults groups and Raising Resilient Kids parenting groups
• We have translated the main CBT skills into 8 different languages and physicians can download and use these with their patients
• We are offering many affinity groups now – men only, women only, LGBTQIA2s+, cancer survivors, young adults, and many more to come
• We have a patient survey to help us shape future programming and the desire for in-person groups
• Eventually we will have a new name that we will want to launch (August)

Christine Tomori (she/her), M.Sc. (Psychology)
Executive Director
CBT Skills Groups Society of Victoria
Cell: 250.507.7084

Oceanside Hospice Society

The Oceanside Hospice Society serves individuals and families experiencing end-of-life, care-giving and bereavement in the area stretching from Deep Bay to Nanoose, and west to Errington and Whiskey Creek

We strive to provide links in the continuum of care by supporting care giving at home, in hospital or the palliative care unit at Trillium and at community care facilities.

Please contact us at 250.752.6227 or visit www.oceansidehospice.com for further information.

Divisions Dispatch

The latest news from the provincial team and complementary organizations.
Please click here for updates including:

• LFP Payment Model updates
• April 2023 FPSC meeting summary
• Doctors of BC’s awards month: May 31 nomination deadline
• May 30 Business Pathways webinar | “Adapting to starting practice” with MD Financial and MNP
• Webinar recording: "Fundamentals of employment law for doctors
• New Compass toolkit: Self-injurious behaviours in children and youth with autism and intellectual impairments
• New web portal provides easy access to division logos
• June 9/10 event | Canadian Collaborative Mental Health Care Conference
• June 6 webinar | Ask the expert: Early psychosis intervention
• May 25 webinar | Considerations for stimulant use disorder care
• BCCDC launches BC SPEAK population health survey

Divisions in the News

See what is going on in other divisions around BC:

https://divisionsbc.ca/provincial/news-and-events