Kamloops cuts wait times for joint replacements thanks to team-based care and innovation
Patients in Kamloops needing hip and knee replacements are seeing wait times cut dramatically — with many now receiving surgery in less than three months — thanks to an innovative, team-based approach to orthopedic care.
With support from the Consultant Specialist Team Care program (CSTC) — a provincial initiative jointly funded by Doctors of BC and the Ministry of Health — orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Poon and his team have increased his clinic’s patient capacity by 20% over the past year.
This made-in-B.C. preventive surgery lowers ovarian cancer risk
Physicians in British Columbia are at the forefront of preventive health care, championing opportunistic salpingectomy (OS) as a transformative approach to reducing a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer by up to 80%. This innovative procedure involves removing the fallopian tubes during already scheduled abdominal or other pelvic surgeries for women who have finished having children or are undergoing surgery for non-cancer-related reasons. By embedding OS as a standard practice, BC is advancing women’s health to help reduce ovarian cancer risk without requiring additional surgeries.
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Opportunistic salpingectomy is supported by the Specialist Services Committee. Read more about the program.
Vernon pediatric team helps launch new texting platform for children with Type 1 diabetes
Project IMPACT is made-in-BC texting program is transforming care for children with Type 1 diabetes and cutting diabetes-related ER visits by 54%. Led by Interior Health pediatrician Dr Eiko Waida and funded by the Specialist Services Committee’s Facility Engagement initiative, the project gives families direct, secure access to nurses and dietitians between quarterly in-person appointments. More than 380 families are enrolled, reporting higher confidence, better day-to-day management, and fewer emergencies. With pediatric diabetes on the rise, this low-cost, high-impact model has spread across Interior Health and is drawing growing interest from other regions.
B.C. allergist working to combat false penicillin allergy diagnoses
The Penicillin De-labelling Project, co-led by Dr Tiffany Wong, Pediatric Allergist at BC Children’s Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, and Dr Rochelle Stimpson, family physician at the BC Centre for Disease Control, is improving antibiotic prescribing accuracy across BC by helping patients safely remove incorrect penicillin allergy labels from their medical records. The project is supported by the Spreading Quality Improvement initiative, co-funded by Doctors of BC and the Ministry of Health.
Virtual cancer screening clinic expands to all of Vancouver Island
Patients who don’t have a family doctor on Vancouver Island now have access to a new resource to get a cancer screening. CanScreen, a virtual cancer-screening clinic started in 2023 by two doctors out of Victoria, is now expanding to the rest of the Island.