Lung (Respiratory)

A range of respiratory diseases including lung cancer, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, sarcoidosis and cystic fibrosis.

Services

The pulmonary/lung program at Providence Health Care includes the Division of Respiratory Medicine based at St. Paul’s Hospital, the Pacific Lung Health Centre, the Institute for Heart + Lung Health and a range of specialty outpatient clinics.

Pacific Lung Health Centre

The Pacific Lung Health Centre (PLHC), an academic clinical program based at St. Paul’s Hospital, sees more than 12,000 patients each year for all respiratory conditions including lung cancer, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, pneumonia, sarcoidosis and cystic fibrosis. Visit the PLHC site for more information.

Respiratory Therapy

At Providence Health Care, our respiratory services are responsible for providing a broad range of high quality cardio-respiratory care to meet inpatient and outpatient needs, both at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital, especially in critical care areas. Some of the services provided include: full pulmonary function tests, cardiopulmonary exercise tests, physiological monitoring for sleep apnea screening; ventilator and airway management, membership in trauma and cardiac arrest teams, medical gas administration, home care assessment and discharge planning, patient assessment and consultation, pulmonary diagnostics and asthma. For more information about our Respiratory Therapy services, please click here.

Outpatient Programs & Clinics

For a list of outpatient services click here.

Research

Our renowed Respiratory Division and the Institute for Heart and Lung Health support research in a variety of areas in British Columbia, and around the world.

Respiratory Medicine

PHC Respiratory Division is one of the strongest academic respiratory divisions/programs in all of Canada, renowned for its academic excellence, innovation and patient care. Its members currently hold 2 prestigious Canada Research Chair (CRC) in respiratory sciences including a Tier 1 Chair and a Tier 2 Chair, a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Clinical Scholar Award, and a CIHR New Investigatorship. Its members also hold many operating grants including a large-scale Genome Canada grant totaling $7.2 million over 4 years, several CIHR open operating grants that total more than $1 million/yr in 2015 and numerous industry-funded grants.

The academic flagship of the Division is the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) program. PHC is the home of the GSK/St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation Professorship in COPD. PHC respiratory investigators publish more than 50 articles per year in peer-reviewed journals, making PHC the most academically productive unit (per capita) in all of Canada. In 2010, ScienceWatch.com ranked PHC/UBC respiratory investigators as the 3rd leading institution in the world (and 1st among all Canadian institutions) for COPD research over the previous 10 years. Two of our respirologists are in the top 20 leading COPD experts in the world (D. Sin, 2nd, P. Man 15th).

Our Cystic Fibrosis (CF) program has also excelled, securing competitive clinical research grants from the Canadian CF Foundation and was instrumental in creating the first ever CF Canada-UBC Clinician Scientist award. The interstitial lung disease (ILD) program is quickly gaining a national reputation as a centre of excellence. It has successfully integrated research with clinical care. Under C. Ryerson’s leadership, it has grown and evolved as a preeminent ILD research unit in the country, securing well over $1 million in funding in the past year and creating one of the first ILD fellowship programs in the country.

Additionally, PHC respiratory division also ranks very highly among internal medicine residents and medical students for teaching and mentorship. PHC division is fully integrated with VGH division of respiratory medicine and within the Institute of Heart and Lung Health (IHLH).

The Lung Program at PHC consists of respirologists, a full complement of respiratory therapists and administrative staff:

  • 10 full-time respirologists (Don Sin, divisional head and professor; Christopher Ryerson, deputy head and assistant professor; Robert Levy, professor; Stephan Van Eeden, professor; Tawimas Shaipanich, clinical assistant professor; Pearce Wilcox, professor; Paul Man, professor; Bradley Quon, assistant professor; Janice Leung, clinical assistant professor; Jdi Laksman, clinical assistant professor)
  • 2 part-time respirologists (Del Dorscheid, Wan Tan)
  • 2 senior respirologists (B. Nakielna; P. Paré)
  • 1 full-time respirologist at MSJ (Tharwat Fera)
  • 1 full-time allergist/clinical immunologist (Robert Schellenberg)
  • 1 part-time administrative assistant (Kamila Kalsi)
  • 3 PhD scientists (Andrew Sandford, Denise Daley, Scott Tebbutt)

Institute for Heart and Lung Health

The Institute for Heart and Lung Health (IHLH) based at St. Paul’s Hospital, embraces heart and lung researchers, clinical innovators, and trainees from across British Columbia, as well as collaborators around the world. In spanning organizational, disciplinary, sectoral, and geographical boundaries and working from molecules through to populations, we bring greater synergy and enjoyment, a wide range of efficiencies, and a higher plane of performance and impact in furthering heart and lung health and in addressing the global burdens of heart and lung diseases. For more information visit the IHLH.

Careers

For more information about working at Providence Health Care and for current employment opportunities, please visit our Careers site.