A commentary by the chair of the Island Health board highlights the achievements and ongoing challenges faced by the healthcare system.
As 2024 closes, I reflect with pride on the progress Island Health care teams made this year and look ahead to 2025 with great humility, knowing there is significant work still to be done. We have learned and achieved so much, and we recognize we need to do more to improve health outcomes and better meet the care needs of patients, residents, and clients across our region. At Island Health, partnerships are crucial.
I am thankful for our dedicated care teams collaborating with Indigenous communities, agencies, family physicians, and volunteers, supported by local governments and foundations. These collaborations have been essential for our successes over the past year. Access to primary care has improved in partnership with local physicians, nurse practitioners, Divisions of Family Practice, and First Nations. By working together, strengthening care teams and creating innovative team-based approaches, we expanded access to primary care for patients and families. This year, a new primary care clinic opened in Campbell River, and an after-hours primary care clinic opened on the Saanich Peninsula. Island Health’s Urgent and Primary Care Centres continue seeing more patients each year, with about 9,600 visits monthly. Innovations such as nurse-led appointments at South Island UPCCs have enabled more people to receive the care they need in a timely manner. Island Health is working to improve the capacity of our Emergency Departments and hospitals by increasing at-home care and community-based services to help reduce unnecessary hospital visits. Home support hours have increased by nearly 12% year-over-year, and home care services from health-care professionals have risen by more than six per cent. We’ve also expanded community service options, such as respiratory therapy, to provide more support at home and minimize the need for hospital care
HEALTHCARE PRIMARYCARE COMMUNITYHEALTH HOMECARE PARTNERSHIPS
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