, Provincial Health l. Services Authority.;L Province-wide solutions. ~" Better health.

Transcription

1 , Provincial Health l. Services Authority.;L Province-wide solutions. ~" Better health. December 12,2007 G. (Wynne) Powell CHAIR Lynda Cranston PRESIDENT AND CEO Mr. John O'Fee Board Chair Thompson-Nicola Regional Hospital District Victoria St Kamloops, BC V2C 2A9 Dear Mr. O'Fee & Directors: I am pleased to provide regional hospital districts with the most recent update about collaborations between the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) and Interior Health. This publication highlights how our work together improves access to specialized health services for communities served by Interior Health. Some recent examples are: Launching treatments in Kelowna to reduce travel for men with prostate cancer Screening events in 12 Interior communities for depression and anxiety Advising homeowners on radon safety to prevent lung cancers Stakeholders tell us that these annual regional updates help them to understand the local and regional benefits of PHSA's collaborations with regional health authorities. I trust that this publication will assist you in providing members of your community with information about improvements to specialized health care in BC. We welcome your district's feedback on whether this update is meeting your needs and have included a response form for this purpose. Should your district require additional copies or have any questions concerning PHSA's agencies or programs, please do not hesitate to contact David Plug, PHSA's liaison for municipalities. David can be reached by dplug@phsa.ca or by telephone at Ifboard members prefer to receive documents in PDF format, this update is available for download as a PDF from PHSA's website at: Sincerely, ~~~wel1 Board Chair FCGA, D. Tech (Hon.) Encl.: Stepsforward: PHSA working with Interior Health Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2H3 Canada - TEL FAX WEB

2 Reader Response Steps forward regional update Please circle one answer for each of the following questions. 1. Steps forward was easy to read; a quick glance gave a sense of how PHSA and its agencies are making progress in health care. 2. I learned something new about how PHSA and its agencies work with my regional health authority. 3. The information in Steps forward is relevant to people in my community or organization. 4, Reading Steps forward helps me to speak about health care with people in my community or organization. 5, The PHSA agencies I am most interested in hearing about are: (check as many as required) D BC Cancer Agency D BC Centre for Disease Control D BC Children's Hospital & Sunny H ill Health Centre for Children D BC Mental Health & Addiction Services D BC Provincial Renal Agency D BC Transplant Society o BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre o PHSA Cardiac Services o PHSA Corporate Additional comments: Name and organization:

3 ste psforward PHSA wot'king with Interior Health ~ Provincial Health l Services Authority 1:\\ \.. Province-wide solutions. ~ _'- Better health - BRITISIJ O)I.LJ\IHI:\ December 2007 I-'HOT(J I (,rji<'tf 'd (JI II C Residents of your region are seeing progress on some of the most specialized challenges in health care thanks to the collaboration between the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) and our colleagues at Interior Health. Due to the support of the provincial government, we can report on a range of highlights for your region, such as: Launching treatments in Kelowna to reduce travel for men with prostate cancer. Screening events in 12 Interior communities for depression and anxiety. Advising homeowners on radon safety to prevent lung cancers. We hope that reading these steps forward will give you a sense of the progress resulting from our work with Interior Health.

4 PHSA agencies working with Interior Health About PHSA Some health problems require highly-specialized attention-services like cancer therapy, organ transplants and treatment for severe mental health problems. The first organization of its kind in the country, the Provincial (PHSA) is responsible and province-wide Health Services Authority for select specialized health care services across BCand works with the five geographic health authorities to meet local and provincial needs. How PHSA works with your regional health authority PHSA is responsible for managing and governing well-known specialized agencies such as the BC Cancer Agency and the BC Centre for Disease Control. These agencies work closely with regional health authorities to provide services province-wide. PHSA plans, coordinates, evaluates and, in some cases, funds other specialized services delivered by the regional health authorities. PHSA also leads collaboratives with the Ministry of Health and regional health authority partners health systems. to review and reform major About this regional update PHSA publishes this regional update on an annual basis to keep the public and stakeholders informed about our progress on specialized health challenges in their region. PHSA achieves its vision- "Province-wide solutions. Better health." - by working with the regional health authorities to ensure ea.ch region has equitable access to these services. Here are just a. few examples of ways in which PHSA and its agencies are working collaboratively with Interior Health to improve the health of people living in BC's Interior. For more information, please see the PHSA at Work section of our website at PHSA Giving kids a sound start in life Newborns in the neonatal intensive care units at Royal Inland Hospital and Kelowna General Hospital are now being screened for early hearing loss as part of PHSA's province-wide BC Early Hearing Program. The hospitals were two of 13 neonatal screening sites across BC. Cariboo Memorial, 100 Mile District General, East Kootenay Regional, Penticton Regional, Vernon Jubilee, Kootenay Lake Regional and Golden Health Council will join these hospitals in adding screening for "well" babies in the coming year. This program is part of the provincial government's initiatives to detect and address barriers to early childhood development. Without early detection and intervention, children can lose important BC Cancer Agency years in developing language and communication skills. Easier access for prostate treatments A new program launched in April 2007 at the BC Cancer Agency's Centre for the Southern Interior gives prostate cancer patients in B.C's Southern Interior access to a specialized radiotherapy treatment in Kelowna. Brachytherapy is the placement of tiny radioactive sources often called "seeds" directly into, or next to. a tumour. In the case of prostate cancer, these seeds are placed into or near the prostate itself to deliver radiation therapy directly to the tumour tissue, sparing surrounding healthy tissues. The new partnership with Interior Health, with support from the BC Cancer Foundation, residents means about 36 Interior will no longer need to travel to the Lower Mainland Telehealth bridges distances The regional eancer centre is using telehealth technology for treatment. to bridge the distances between cancer patients and their specialists. In its first two years, specialists based in Kelowna used telehealth for 244 appointments, mostly for patients in Kamloops and Cranbrook who would otherwise travel to the regional Te1ehealth is expected have needed to cancer centre. to become an integral part of future services because it offers expert opinions in a timely fashion to distant patients. Surveys show it is well accepted by patients and increasingly so by physicians. The technology reduces travel down-time for oncologists and makes it easier for patients to see an oncologist who specializes in their condition. Expanding radiation therapy Interior cancer patients will have better access to radiation therapy when the BC Cancer Agency completes an expansion at the Centre for the Southern Interior in Kelowna. Four linear accelerators will be replaced and a fifth one added to the facility. The project begins in 2008 and will be completedin2010.

5 BC Centre for Disease Control Radon alert In August 2007, experts in radiation exposure at the BC Centre for Disease Control joined Interior Health in alerting residents to the possible risks of radon in their homes. Monitoring schools and homes in the North Thompson Valley from Barriere. to Blue River revealed elevated levels of naturally-occurring of radon, a radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer after long exposure. All areas east of the Coast Mountains are at potential risk. Homeowners were advised to check their home radon levels and to learn about the relatively can reduce the risk. Needle clean-up simple steps that reduces risk The BC Centre for Disease Control provided $25,000 to Interior Health to start a Needle Partnership Program in Penticton and Oliver. The goal is to reduce the spread of blood-borne infections by creating awareness of safe needle distribution in the community. BC Children's Hospital & Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children Regional outreach BC Children's Hospital and Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children physicians and other health care work with providers through a network of traveling clinics that visit regional centres the Interior (Kamloops around young patients and Kelowna), BC and in the Yukon, ensuring across the province receive a level of care equivalent provided at BC Children's Hospital. in to that These outreach and their families, providers, clinics support patients as well as health care and include developmental, cardiac, orthopedic, and neurological clinics among others. BC Mental Health & Addiction Services Partners in supportive housing The Kamloops Regional Clinic of Forensic Psychiatric Services, an arm of BC Mental Health & Addiction Services (BCMHAS), has been a key participant in the multi-partner Kamloops Integration Project. The goal of the project, which involves the city along with several provincial social services agencies, is to coordinate support services for local residents living with a mental illness and/or addiction challenges those services. and to address any gaps in This cooperative approach has met encouraging success in its efforts to help forensic clients to access appropriate Kamloops housing. The clinic has now received funding to enter into a similar partnership with the City of Vernon and will be working with Interior Health and the Canadian Association. Beyond the Blues Mental Health BCMHAS funds the high-profile annual Depression Anxiety Education and Screening events to raise public awareness of mental illness, treatment options, community supports and successes with recovery. Some of the 65 events held across BC were in 13 Interior communities: 100 Mile House, Chase, Cranbrook, Golden, Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton, Revelstoke, Salmon Ann, Sparwood, Trail, Vernon and Williams Lake. This year's events also highlighted the links between risky drinking and alcohol, depression and anxiety. In addition to the annual on-site and telephone screenings, year-round self-tests are available online at BC Renal Agency Supporting more home dialysis Interior Health has increased dialysis capacity by more than 50 per cent since 2001 through collaboration with the. BC Renal Agency and more than $4.8 million in BC government capital and equipment funding. From April 2()()6 to March 2008, Interior Health will have received just under a million dollars in capital funding for dialysis equipment, including 19 home hemodialysis machines that will enable patients to manage their dialysis independently. Multilingual patient information Patients who have kidney disease and their care providers collaborated in a new DVD to help patients and families

6 navigate the comprehensive-but complex-system of kidney care in BC. People from each regional health authority explain the wide range of services, including pre-dialysis and kidney care clinics, dialysis care (facilitybased hemodialysis, independent hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis), transplant and end-of-life care. Each DVD will of~er English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi and Tagalog versions. Managing chronic diseases The BC Renal Agency, in partnership with Interior Health, developed an electronic chart for chronic disease management for patients who have heart disease or diabetes in addition to their kidney disease. The ehealth project is based on the work-flow processes of the Penticton Integrated Health Centre. Such integrated clinics provide important data on the value of shared care and patient self-management in the prevention and treatment of these "vascular" cluster of diseases. BC. Transplant Society The gift of life In March 2007, two people who wished to donate their organs died within hours of each other. To fulfill the donors' wishes, the hospital team at Kelowna General Hospital worked closely with the BC Transplant Society on the extraordinary logistical coordination. The donors' generosity and the dedicated commitment of staff at the hospital resulted in 13 people receiving life-saving transplants. Community donation awareness of organ In June 2007, BC's first-ever Organ Donor Registration the Southern received Tour rolled across Interior. A patient who a second chance at life from a liver transplant spearheaded the campaign that involved community support in Hope, Merritt, Kamloops, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake and Quesnel. BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre Advanced maternity training for rural practitioners BC Women's and the BC Perinatal Health Program's Rural Perinatal Education initiative are improving access to rurallybased maternity care services. Health care providers in rural areas are funded for training and educational initiatives to gain advanced maternity care skills. A series of one-day rural obstetrical workshops taught by physician-nurse teams were held in Princeton and Oliver in Across the province, a total of 85 rural physicians, nurses and paramedic.s participated. Cooperating on high-risk births To ensure mothers and newborns get the safest and best possible care as close to home as possible, BC Women's and PHSA's Provincial Specialized Perinatal Services (PSPS) partnered with regional health authorities to develop and implement new guidelines for the use of BC's supply of maternity and neonatal beds and the transfer of patients. These guidelines support the optimal use of specialized perinatal and neonatal (Level 2 and Level 3) beds throughout BC. In addition, PSPS is facilitating cooperation among its partners including specialty physicians, BCbedline, and the BC Ambulance Service to improve coordination of maternal and neonatal transfers and diversions across Be. Cardiac Services BC New cardiac care centre Cardiac Services BC, an agency of PHSA, worked with Interior Health to identify the region's growing needs for cardiac care and to develop a business case. The result of this collaboration is the provincial government's announcement that BC's fifth cardiac critical care centre will open at Kelowna General Hospital in The centre will provide inpatient care, diagnostics and a complete revascularization program, including open heart surgery and other coronary intervention (such as angioplasty). - '\. ~ Provincial Health ~ l Services Authority ~~ \... Province-wide solutions. Better health. Provincial Health Services Authority Burrard Street Vancouver, BC V6Z 2H3 Canada tel web BRITISH COLUMBIA The Best Place on Earth