A new drug for heart failure could reduce the number of deaths from the disease by 20 per cent, and is the first treatment in two decades to show a higher survival rate for patients, says one of B.C.’s top cardiologists. Quotes from Dr. Andrew Ignaszekski, head of cardiology at St. Paul’s Hospital.

B.C. doctors are continuing to prescribe multiple medications to seniors even though research suggests doing so can be harmful, a newly released set of statistics show. Quotes from Dr. Rita McCracken, associate head of the department of family practice for Providence Health.

Prescription heroin or diacetylmorphine will be available at Crosstown Clinic in the Downtown Eastside by December. With mention of legal proceedings involving Providence Health Care and SALOME participants.

UBC Family Medicine Residency is hoping to curb the shortage with a new program on the North Shore called Coastal Family Practice Residency, which aims to entice medical students into family medicine, or general practice.

The Whistler Health Care Foundation has announced it will contribute up to $160,000 towards the $608,000 upgrade of the helipad connected to VCH’s Whistler Health Care Centre.

The number of syphilis cases in B.C. last year hit its highest level on record and public health officials have renewed their call for gay men to get tested for the highly contagious disease. With quotes from Dr. Reka Gustafson, a medical health officer with VCH.

A health-care worker who was brutally attacked by a psychiatric patient at UBC hospital says she doesn’t blame her attacker, while VCH has been fined $75,000 for failing to protect her. With quotes from Kate Dickerson, executive director of Workplace Health at VCH.

Evan Wood, an addictions and HIV-AIDS expert, is a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and co-director of the Urban Health Research Initiative at St. Paul’s Hospital.

A VCH clinic that provides dental care for “medically complex” patients has introduced a policy that requires some patients to pay up front to secure space in an operating room, raising concerns that people may forgo treatment because they or their families can’t afford to pay. With quotes from Anna Marie D’ Angelo, a spokesperson for VCH.

Wireless internet need in Vancouver hospitals discussed. With mention of VCH and Providence Health Care.