It’s been six months since Primary Care redesign started in earnest and we are now one month away from opening the new Primary Care and High Needs Stabilization Clinic at Raven Song Community Health Centre. The primary care teams have worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth transition for their clients.

“Redesign of primary care has tested staff’s tolerance for change,” said Laura Case, chief operating officer for Vancouver Community. “It has been trying, stressful and—at times—emotionally draining, and we’re still not done. Primary care staff has my respect and admiration for the way that they have pulled together not only to better support our clients, but also one another.”

New clinic will open on schedule

Urban primary care clinic resources will relocate from Evergreen CHC, South CHC, Pacific Spirit CHC and the Pine Clinic to Raven Song CHC on October 31 to create a large interdisciplinary team to support the new High Needs and Stabilization Primary Care clinic. Renovations to the Raven Song space began this week.

On November 3, the new Raven Song clinic will open with five-day-a-week, 12-hour service. Service will expand to include weekends by early 2015.

The clinic will provide high needs and complex clients—including vulnerable youth and frail elders—with the health care they need in a patient-centred, specialized, fully integrated service setting. The team will provide service within the clinic, at satellite locations and with an agile interdisciplinary outreach team.

Patients retain access to physician care

Since March, we have been working collaboratively with staff and our primary care physicians to shift existing VCH Primary Care patients from Evergreen CHC, Pacific Spirit CHC, South CHC and Pine Clinic—who do not require our fully integrated services—into the care of fee-for-service family physicians.

This has been a seamless transition for most.

“The majority of our former VCH-contracted Primary Care physicians opted to move to into nearby fee-for-service medical clinics, taking much of their existing caseload with them,” said Dr. David Hall, medical director, Primary Care. “This means that we are well on our way to accomplishing what we initially set out to do—leave no patient without access to primary care, and increase our capacity to service the city’s most vulnerable citizens.”

Discussions are still underway with management at Mid Main about transition plans, while clinicians at Pine have been working individually with clients on care transition planning and referrals to health services.

Youth clients who attend Pine can continue receiving services at the expanded clinics at Raven Song, Three Bridges or East Van Public Health youth clinics. Youth clinics are also available at VCH’s Pacific Spirit and South CHCs.

Patient transition by-the-numbers

For clients accessing care at Pacific Spirit, Evergreen, and South:

• 70% of clients were invited to join fee-for-service with their current GP or one they have known.
• 15% of clients were invited to the primary care clinic at Raven Song.
• 15% of clients were recommended for general Fee-For-Service in the community and supported to work with a VCH attachment nurse to find a GP.
• Any remaining patient who cannot be attached to a GP will receive primary care at Raven Song to ensure no disruption in care. These patients will also benefit from GP for Me collaboration with the Vancouver Division of Family Practice.

“By refocusing our VCH-funded Primary Care on its intended target populations of youth and high needs adults, redesign work has created more capacity to care for the current and many additional new clients at the new Raven Song High Needs and Stabilization Clinic,” said Nellie Hariri, Director, VCH Primary Care. “Once the new Raven Song site is fully staffed, the team will have the capacity to provide service for approximately 4,500 new clients who require wrap-around care to access care and improve their health.”