Medical Community Connections | Rural Health Innovations

Battling High Blood Pressure

Community hosts outreach events to educate people on blood pressure and heart health in order to battle chronic disease.

First Nation’s Band Finance Specialist Support for Community Members

Patient Access

A First Nation’s Band provides financial support to families in need of medical care outside of their community.

Private Medical Clinic Uses Methods for Quick Turnaround Time

Patient Access

A private health clinic uses methods such as telehealth and dictation in order to provide quick turn-arounds for lab and ultrasound results.

Quality Improvement Tracks ‘Near Misses’ for Review

Policy & Procedure

All near misses are written in a red book, and once a month there is an anesthesia meeting where the group discuss them. They talk about the literature and how their practices can change to avoid these situations in the future.

Physician Advocates for Use of ‘Frost Bite Drug’ in Their Community

Overcoming Environment

Local Physician fights for the use of ‘Iloprost,’ which can help dilates blood vessels and improves blood flow following frost bite. This new drug was only starting to be considered in BC in January 2020.

Mental Health Support Through Telehealth

Mental Health

It is rare for a community to say that they have fantastic mental health supports, but one community reports that they have many stepping stones in place, and that they utilize Telehealth in their efforts to battle mental health and it is proving to work well for them.

First Nation’s Members Create Successful Transporation Plan During Wildfire

Overcoming Environment

First Nation’s community members created a successful transportation set-up that allowed physician access for both First Nation’s and non-First Nation’s members during wildfire season.

Connections Bus

Non-Emergency Transport

A Health Authority bus route helps out-of-town patients travel to larger centres for appointments and subsidized fares.

Out of the Box Funding for Medical Student’s Specialized Education

Education

A medical student seeking training in Cardiology proposed to the Mayor that the community’s Health Services Society fund his specialist education for 2 years. In return his family would commit to a 10 year return to service contract with the community.

Scholarships for Youth To Get Into Healthcare

Education

Community provided scholarships to get youth into medical professions.

Northern Medical Program Introduce Medical Students to work with Truck Drivers

Education

The University of Northern BC and the Northern Medical Program bring students to truck stops to assist in providing medical services to a hard-to-reach population group who are always on the go with their job.

Northern Medical Program Travelling Road Show for Students

Education

The University of Northern BC and the Northern Medical Program facilitates a travelling road show to expose urban students to the northern-rural environment.

Education Pathways to Battle Low RN Numbers

Education

Registered Nurse (RN) numbers are low, so this community has developed education lines to tackle that. A nurse can take a rural emerge course through University of Northern BC (UNBC) and are guaranteed to stay in Bella Coola. Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) pays for it, but the nurses must commit to a 1 year return of service in the community.

Physicians Social Team Building

Divisions of Family Practice

Divisions of Family Practice creates social and team building activities for their physicians.

First Nations Fire Fighters Integration

Cultural Safety

Fire fighters from First Nations community responds with ambulance as part of a respectful relationship and understanding of cultural safety for their First Nations community.

Harm Reduction Advisory Committee Grows

Addictions

Impressive examples of community networking lead to extensive network to support addiction recovery.

Appropriate Ambulance Staffing

Emergency Transport

A municipality doubled their ambulance staff thanks to attaching time to the service instead of numbers of callouts.

HART Team is the Biggest Impact for Emergency Transportation

Emergency Transport

The High Acuity Response Team (HART) program was designed to focus on the inter-facility transport of highly acute patients by staffing one HART member, 24/7, at the regional referral centres across [Health Authority X]. HART members are typically Registered Nurses (RNs) who have specialized training and dedicated equipment that allow them to provide expert care to patients while travelling to or from rural and remote facilities across [Health Authority X]. This program was implemented so that when a patient who requires a higher level of care during transport, the community is not left without a physician or nurse.

Well-Trained First Responders in CPR

First Responder

First responders are scattered throughout Gabriola Island and respond quickly with CPR and are well-trained.

Federally Funded Social Worker

Funding

This community thought that it would be more helpful to have a Social Worker than a Nurse Practitioner, and they were able to have this position federally funded.