May

I was recently asked by a colleague and member of Doctors of BC how I feel about my year as president drawing to a close. This certainly deserves some reflection. As many of you know, I worked very hard to earn the support of the profession as your president through two energized election campaigns over the span of a few months. In truth, I’m leaving with a heavy heart and the feeling that, despite the great strides and accomplishments of the last year, there is still much to be done for the profession and health care in BC.

Four books about death and dying by physicians provide a good start for all physicians, general or specialized, looking for a fuller understanding of the topic and a way to initiate difficult conversations about end-of-life care.

A proposal submitted to the Specialist Services Committee’s (SSC) Quality and Innovation (Q&I) Initiative by Dr Eric Grafstein led to a pilot project to make physician telephone consultations available for more urgent 8-1-1 calls. Dr Grafstein wanted to determine if adding a physician to the call process would reduce the number of urgent calls (considered red calls by the HealthLink BC 8-1-1 line) that ended up in the emergency department. 

St. Paul’s Foundation received the largest donation in Canadian history by a private citizen to a single medical facility. The donation will support the creation of the new St. Paul’s at the Jim Pattison Medical Centre. The medical centre will be a purpose-built, fully integrated health campus, comprising the 18.4-acre site on Station Street in the False Creek Flats in Vancouver.