Hospital Care Program

The Division launched its Hospital Care Program in July 2010. The program aims to support the ongoing provision of hospital care services, while easing the workload of physicians juggling clinical practice with hospital care, through a collaborative, team-based approach. It engages both family physicians and nurse practitioners to work in tandem to provide extended daytime clinical support and continuity for patients.

The F-call program supports patients who are unattached and orphaned (i.e. their family physician does not have hospital privileges). These patients are assigned a physician for the duration of their hospital stay, with medical information being copied to their family physician to allow for a smoother transition of care back to the community.

The House Doc program provides a physician for hospital patients who do not have a family physician. These patients are generally stable and awaiting transfer to nursing care, or are surgical patients in recovery. The House Doc also fields calls from family physicians who have a patient that needs an urgent assessment in hospital. This helps the patient receive timely care, and allows the family physician to stay in the clinic to see other patients.

Long-Term Care Initiative

The Long-Term Care Initiative (LTCI) ensures that patients in long-term care facilities have consistent, ongoing care from a family physician, and allows for family physicians to centralize care and build relationships with facilities. This is done through a clustering model of physician care, wherein physicians care for 10 or more residents within one Chilliwack long-term care facility.

The LTCI works closely with facilities and physicians to provide a palliative approach to patient care.