HIV/AIDS Program

<< BACK   |   Download PDF

Providence Health Care is a leading care provider, innovator, and teaching and research organization in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS program delivers 11 per cent of all HIV/AIDS care in Canada, giving it the largest caseload of any hospital in the country. We are the referral centre for
HIV-positive individuals in the province and provide comprehensive assessment, treatment, education and research across all of our services.

We specialize in:

Research: BC Centre for Excellence HIV/AIDS
Located at St. Paul’s Hospital, the BCCFE in HIV/AIDS is a leading scientific and research organization which is internationally recognized for pioneering important initiatives such as therapeutic guidelines for the treatment of HIV and early use of double or triple drug combination regimes. All research is affiliated with University of British Columbia. Mandates of the centre include:
• Funding and distributing AIDS related medication across the province
• Viral and epidemiological research
• Education for health professionals and undergraduate students.

Acute HIV/AIDS Care
While the majority of acutely ill patients are admitted to our dedicated inpatient unit, we continue to provide services to HIV positive individuals in all
clinical areas of the hospital, particularly Medicine, Surgery and Mental Health and Palliative Care. Services include:
• HIV/AIDS Unit – A 24-bed inpatient unit to assess, treat, and manage patients who are acutely medically ill and HIV positive. The only one of its kind in Canada.
• HIV Social Work – Four social workers provide comprehensive assessment counseling and discharge planning for all HIV positive individuals across St. Paul’s Hospital units and ambulatory setting.
• Addiction Consult Team – provides general addictions assessment & treatment consults across PHC, with a particular emphasis on the care of injection drug users, many of whom are HIV positive. The team consists of physicians and a clinical nurse specialist in HIV & Addiction.

Outpatient Services
The Immunodeficiency Clinic serves as a centre for the co-ordination of Clinical Network trials and the provision of HIV specialized outpatient services. Our services include:
• HIV Primary Care
• Hepatitis C/HIV Positive Co-infection Clinic
• Addiction Clinic
• Specialist Clinics
• AIDS Clinic
• Therapeutic Drug Monitoring
• Expanded Access Program

Clinical Excellence and a Strong Team
Our model of interdisciplinary teamwork, combined with our incredible resource of experienced clinicians and researchers who have achieved
international recognition, has been extremely successful. Nurses and allied professionals have numerous opportunities to develop their HIV/AIDS
knowledge base through interaction with local experts as well as attendance at weekly AIDS Care Round and twice yearly provincial HIV/AIDS updates offered by the BC Centre.

At PHC, our professionals have a strong voice – as integral members of interdisciplinary health caren teams, as highly skilled care providers, as
researchers and as individuals with unique needs and preferences. If you value innovative teamwork, excellence in care, educational opportunities and an enriching lifestyle, consider a career at Providence Health Care. Join us. Be heard.

<< BACK   |   Download PDF