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July 7, 2010
VICTORIA – Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) is celebrating the success of its staff and physicians who were honoured at the 2010 Excellence in BC Healthcare Awards.
The awards, which were presented by the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) on June 21st in Vancouver, recognize the efforts of healthcare employees who provide quality care and support to the people of this province and acknowledge excellence and innovation in publicly funded healthcare. The awards are judged by a committee of volunteers from the health field as well as community leaders from business, science and technology, and academia.
“The Excellence in BC Healthcare Awards recognize the outstanding practices of our healthcare professionals and provide a forum in which to celebrate their many successes,” said Jac Kreut, VIHA Board Chair. “I know the Board joins me in congratulating these staff and physicians for their outstanding and innovative work.”
VIHA’s Healthcare Hero Award went to Dr. Rivian Weinerman, Site Chief of Psychiatry in the South Island. Dr. Weinerman is a tireless advocate for patients with mental health and addiction issues. She has promoted collaborative care models with family physicians and other front line clinicians. This model for collaborative psychiatric care has been adapted for the entire province and has laid a strong foundation for improved primary mental healthcare in BC.
VIHA also took top honours for Innovation and won an Award of Merit for Innovation.
- The Top Innovation honour went to VIHA’s TelePathology project. VIHA serves about 750,000 people in geographically scattered island and coastal communities. When you’re an anatomical pathologist working in an isolated area, getting a second opinion in a hurry can be challenging. The solution was the TelePathology project, which uses digital images of specimens that can then be viewed, transmitted, stored, accessed and assessed by pathologists at separate locations. The TelePathology project team was led by Cathy Wenger and Lisa Moore. Additional team members include Esther Dunn, Gary Frank, Fraser Hacking, Mandy Jones, Diana Nagy and Dr. Doug Sawyer.
- Also honoured for Merit in Innovation was VIHA’s Mental Health and Addictions “Bridges” Project – an electronic health record initiative that helps high-risk clients get faster and better care. Care providers can now get detailed information that enables them to make appropriate referrals much more quickly – in a matter of minutes, compared to hours or days. The project was led by Dr. Ken Moselle and team members include Alan Campbell, Catherine Claiter, Dr. Mary Lyn Fyfe, Dr. Robert Miller and Marti Stewart.
- VIHA’s Violence Prevention Team also received a Workplace Health Innovation Award of Merit. The team developed an in-house curriculum to train and deliver unit-based violence prevention education to front-line staff. The program combines violence prevention with workplace practice. The leader for this project was Tracy Larsen, and team members included Peter Dunkley, Cathy McDonald and Lynn Vincent.
“These awards highlight the dedication and calibre of our health professionals,” noted Howard Waldner, VIHA President and CEO. “It is gratifying to know that we have strong teams and leaders that are changing health care for the better and that our people are being recognized for their hard work and results.”
A full list of 2010 Excellence in BC Healthcare Awards winners can be found at:
http://www.bchealthcareawards.ca/Page3144.aspx. For more information about VIHA, please see www.viha.ca.
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Media Contact:
Shannon Marshall
VIHA Communications
250-370-8270
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