New hub for youth primary care
Youth clients who used to visit the Pine Clinic have already been dropping in to see nurse practitioner Kelvin Bei at Raven Song Community Health Centre (CHC), in advance of the expanded primary care clinic opening on Nov. 3. Kelvin, who is based at Raven Song, provides primary care and outreach services to clients 24-years-old and younger from several locations across Vancouver.
“I’m often their primary care provider,” explains Kelvin. “Together we focus on preventative care, sexual health, mental health and managing chronic illness. Sometimes they don’t feel comfortable going to the doctor they’ve seen since they were a child because they worry that their parents will learn about their health issues.”
Kelvin joined Vancouver Coastal Health this summer after spending two years as a nurse practitioner in Port Hardy, a small town on northern Vancouver Island. It’s a change of scenery for him, but a welcome one. And so far the former Pine Clinic clients he’s talked to like the change as well because Raven Song is easy to access by transit.
Renovations are underway
Urban primary care clinic resources are relocating from the Evergreen, South and Pacific Spirit CHCs, and Pine Clinic, to Raven Song on Oct. 31 to create a large interdisciplinary team at the new High Needs and Stabilization Primary Care Clinic. The new Raven Song clinic will also become a hub for youth services, replacing Pine Clinic as it didn’t have the physical space to accommodate multiple programs for at-risk youth.
“I’m excited that we will have the capacity to offer more integrated services and better access for clients,” says Kelvin. “There are nurses and physicians joining the team from Pine Clinic, and we have a lot to learn from them, plus we are making closer connections to our public health and mental health teams and even to teams outside VCH such as BC Children’s Hospital’s RICHER program for vulnerable children and families.”
Renovations to the Raven Song space are underway. Kelvin says the changes will make the layout more efficient and accommodate additional patient rooms as staffing numbers are going up.
“One change I’m looking forward to is the relocation of the harm reduction needle exchange kiosk,” he says. “Clients had to pass two doors to get to it before – literally high barrier – and it will soon be located near reception.”
Better access for youth
Raven Song has staff specializing in youth services three days a week and this will expand to five days a week starting in November. Kelvin is one of soon-to-be four nurse practitioners who will support youth, together with physicians and other care providers. Primary Care Redesign is creating:
- An extra day of service to the youth parenting program located at Robert and Lily Lee Family (RLLF) CHC, a city-wide program for vulnerable teen moms that is seeing increasing demand.
- Two new days of youth outreach from RLLF, provided by Kelvin.
- Five evening-per-week youth-focused primary care at RLLF, in addition to the main youth program at Raven Song.
- Expansion of youth detox and youth physician capacity from Three Bridges Primary Care.
- Increased access to trans-friendly primary care for transgender youth in connection with the transgender clinics already established at Raven Song and Three Bridges CHCs.
Youth will also be able to access sexual health services at the Three Bridges Youth Clinic, East Van Youth Clinic (at RLLF CHC), Knight Street Youth Clinic (at South CHC) and Boulevard Youth Clinic (at Pacific Spirit CHC).