2009 Award Recipients
Download the Awards Luncheon Program
TOP INNOVATOR – AFFILIATE
2009 Gold Apple Winner
Organization/Facility: Motivation, Power & Achievement Society
Project/Initiative: Drug Treatment Court of Vancouver
Team/Project Leader: David MacIntyre - Executive Director
Location: Vancouver
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; David MacIntyre; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
David MacIntyre has worked in the fields of mental health, corrections and addiction
treatment. He has worked as a therapist doing both individual and group counselling
and has also focused on policy and program development.
One of David’s most notable achievements to date has been the creation of the
Drug Treatment Court of Vancouver. Started in 2001, the DTCV aims to reduce heroin
and cocaine use in adults charged with offences motivated by drug addiction.
The program’s success has paved the way for seven other drug treatment courts to
open across Canada.
As in all Canadian courtrooms, the presiding judge is in charge. However, at the DTCV, the judge makes decisions in consultation with a team of experts that includes the Crown and defense counsel, case manager, and treatment and service providers.
Participants must plead guilty to their charges and work with a professional team to
design an effective treatment and rehabilitation plan. With guilt already established,
the focus can shift entirely to preventing the person who committed the offence from
doing further harm to society or themselves. The program provides the opportunity for people caught up in addiction and the justice system to accept personal responsibility and receive much-needed support to recover from their addictions.
To establish the DTCV, David designed, planned, and implemented a detailed process of research and stakeholder consultation with police, the Crown, members of the judiciary, political leaders, local business and community service providers. He secured funding and spoke to international experts to explore alternatives to the traditional court system.
Results show that completion of the program is the best predictor of reduced drug use and convictions and the most cost-effective means of processing drug-related offenses. Though 88 per cent of participants tested positive for heroin, cocaine or other drugs within the first six months of entering the program, only 30 per cent tested positive within six months of program completion.
Today, David is Executive Director of the MPA Society, a non-profit organization founded by people experiencing mental illness and their supporters.
TOP INNOVATOR – AFFILIATE
2009 Award of Merit Recipients top
Organization/Facility: Providence Health Care
Project/Initiative: Bedside In-Patient and Emergency Patient Ultrasound
Using Wireless Technology
Team/Project Leader: Cathy Fix – Ultrasound Section Head
Location: Vancouver
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Cathy Fix; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Cathy Fix created the portable ultrasound project in partnership with the Intensive
Care Unit (ICU) and Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) at St. Paul’s Hospital. From July to December, 2008, senior volunteer sonographers went to ICU and CCU wards to conduct high quality bedside ultrasound exams. Results were sent to a staff radiologist as exams were performed, allowing for instantaneous report turnaround. Cathy worked with intensivists, nursing leaders, vendors, IT professionals and her staff to create an environment in which portable ultrasound could be successful. This involved laying the groundwork for a secure wireless environment and acquiring appropriate equipment for the project.
Cathy has created space in the department to perform 400 additional out-patient
appointments, resulting in a $50,000 revenue increase and decreased out-patient waits. Providence Health Care has saved $36,000 in labour costs as a result of the program and Cathy’s bedside model is now being expanded to Emergency and other in-patient areas.
TOP INNOVATOR – HEALTH AUTHORITY
2009 Gold Apple Winner top
Organization/Facility: Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA)
Project/Initiative: imPROVE
Team/Project Leader: Jennifer Mackenzie - Vice President, Strategic Planning,
Transformation Support and Innovation
Location: Vancouver
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Jennifer Mackenzie; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
In September 2007, PHSA launched an initiative to apply the “Lean” principles of
the Toyota Production System. The initiative’s mission is to improve client care and
maximize value by providing a structured process in which employees contribute to,
seek out and implement better processes and methods to drive out waste.
A chosen process is first mapped from beginning to end to identify areas for
improvement. These areas become the focus of week-long Rapid Process Improvement Workshops, in which participants analyze the current state for waste and inefficiencies, envision a future state and test solutions to achieve it.
Organizational leaders are being certified to lead the change. Eighty leaders – including the entire executive team – are currently taking the two-year training program. In the fall of 2009, another 50 leaders will start the certification process.
According to PHSA’s research, only three or four healthcare organizations in the
world are implementing these principles on such a wide scale. PHSA has completed
more than 50 projects in the past two years and results have been nothing short of
astounding. The BC Cancer Agency Hereditary Cancer Program saw patient wait times go down by 63 per cent, and PHSA Laboratories has reduced its pre-analytical process time for serology samples by 88 per cent.
A program evaluation and research project on the application of Lean thinking in
healthcare is currently underway. Research will be conducted over the next three to
four years to ensure that PHSA is achieving value for taxpayer dollars.
Team members: Brendan Abbott, Jamie Bowman, Simon Ip, Tracy Jones,
Jennifer MacKenzie, Melanie McVittie, Reena Rajan, Alecia Robin, Richard Simson,
Jerry Weber and Graham Worsley.
TOP INNOVATOR – HEALTH AUTHORITY
2009 Award of Merit Recipients top
Organization/Facility: Interior Health
Project/Initiative: After Hours Centralized Registration (AHCR)
Team/Project Leader: Melanie AbedRabo - eHealth Integration Manager
Location: Summerland
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Melanie AbedRabo; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Twenty-five emergency departments in small acute sites within Interior Health lack
clerical patient registration support after hours and on weekends. Registrations are
performed by clinicians, taking time away from patient care and leading to errors.
The After Hours Centralized Registration Project installed videophones in the emergency departments of four test sites. After triaging a patient, nurses connect with the central clerk’s desk in Kamloops, provide the triage and physician information and pass the videophone to the patient. The clerk and patient then perform “face-to-face” registration over the videophone; a cordless phone is provided for patients who are not ambulatory. As a result of the project, nurses have reduced the number of hours spent on registrations by at least 92 per cent, and the number of hours clerical staff spend tracking incomplete registrations has been cut by more than half. Plans to introduce the system to an additional five sites are underway.
Team members: Melanie AbedRabo, Brian Bootsman, Gay Buchanan and Karyn Morash.
Organization/Facility: Interior Health
Project/Initiative: Tele-Thoracic Virtual Consulting Service
Location: Kelowna
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Val Paolini; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Patient access to specialty care decreases in areas of low population density. Since
December 2003, the Kelowna Thoracic Surgery site of the British Columbia Programme
of Thoracic Surgical Care has conducted a tele-thoracic virtual consultation and
follow-up service for patients with thoracic diseases living within the jurisdictions of
Interior Health and Northern Health. Patients travel to Kelowna only for their surgery,
returning home to continue with post-operative care and videoconferencing follow-up. This post-surgical care facilitates access to home care nursing, ongoing physician care and palliative or chemotherapy services. By December 2008, more than 4,000
assessments were seen during 706 teleconference clinics from 10 different sites.
Nearly three million kilometres of patient travel have been saved, resulting in reduced
patient cost, travel risk and environmental impact. Patients with proven or suspected
thoracic malignancies are seen, on average, within six days of referral.
Team members: Michael Humer, Andrew Luoma, Bill Nelems, Anand Jugnauth,
Wayne Senner, Val Paolini and LaDonna Fehr, aided by dozens of registered nurses
and two Kelowna-based clinical navigators.
Workplace Health Innovation
2009 Gold Apple Winner top
Organization/Facility: Interior Health
Project/Initiative: F.A.S.T. Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Reporting
Team/Project Leader: Dixie Ross and Lorena McLure – Occupational Health Nurse Specialists
Location: Kelowna
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Dixie Ross; Lorena McLure; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Bloodborne pathogen diseases have long-term and possibly fatal consequences.
Typically, it takes four to five days to report bloodborne pathogen exposure to
Workplace Health & Safety. But the sooner someone receives first aid, testing and
follow-up treatment, the lower their probability of acquiring diseases such as HIV and
Hepatitis. Recognizing the need for an effective, efficient and timely reporting system to manage employee exposure incidents, Dixie Ross and Lorena McLure created F.A.S.T. (First Aid, Access-Act, Serology & Treatment).
Using minimal resources, in 2008 Dixie and Lorena refurbished old, existing
technology to produce a state-of-the-art, online reporting system for occupational
bloodborne pathogen exposures. F.A.S.T. immediately notifies the lab to order
appropriate serology markers for both the source and the victim and informs Workplace Health & Safety of the incident. Employees are given immediate access to step-by-step first aid instructions, a source risk assessment, a patient (source) chart copy, HIV verbal consent guidelines and treatment guidelines.
The system meets the principles of an occupational health program by including a
comprehensive risk assessment, risk control measures, education and evaluation.
Benefits of the online reporting system include improved incident descriptions,
increased compliance with post-exposure treatment recommendations and improved
source/employee risk assessments. The program also represents significant financial
advantages, as one person can effectively manage the program for thousands of
employees. Most importantly, F.A.S.T. has dramatically reduced the time it takes for
exposed employees to receive treatment and assessment.
Due to its success in Kelowna, the F.A.S.T. system is now being introduced across
Interior Health.
Workplace Health Innovation
2009 Award of Merit Recipients top
Organization/Facility: Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA)
Project/Initiative: Workplace Mental Health Strategy
Team/Project Leader: Dawn Palmer – Director, Human Resources
Location: Vancouver
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Dawn Palmer; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Recognizing the toll that mental health concerns take on the workplace—including nearly 25 per cent of long-term disability costs in 2005—PHSA committed to implementing a strategy to support staff experiencing mental illness. Working with BC Mental Health and Addiction Services, unions, PHSA human resources and clinical staff, Dawn Palmer spearheaded a number of workplace mental health initiatives. Strategies include a 2007 employee health survey that provided baseline data on depression and anxiety rates, the launch of a resource manual to help employees identify depression and reduce its effects on their work satisfaction and performance, the introduction of a confidential web-based self-assessment tool and a workshop to help managers recognize and appropriately respond to the signs of mental illness. PHSA also promotes the availability of the Employee & Family Assistance Program, which provides free, confidential counselling services for employees and their families.
Team members: Dawn Palmer and Peter Coleridge, Vice President, Education and
Population Health, BC Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Organization/Facility: Watari Research Association
Team/Project Leader: James Haga – Board President
Location: Vancouver
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Leslie Knight; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
As an organization providing services in the Downtown Eastside, Grandview
Woodlands and Mount Pleasant, the Watari Research Association should be struggling
with staff burnout, disability claims, absenteeism and early retirement. But Watari has
healthy, long-term staff, with only one employee in 15 years on long-term disability.
Watari has created a ‘culture of caring’ for its employees that includes group and
individual clinical supervision for all staff, flexible work weeks that encourage work/life balance and agency training that regularly explores team building, self-care and social justice as a collective. In recognition of the connection between satisfaction at home and productivity at work, a four-day work week with extended hours was introduced, and schedules can be changed to meet staff childcare needs.
James Haga has been on Watari’s board of directors for four years and is currently
completing his undergraduate degree in International Development.
COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS
2009 Gold Apple Winner top
Organization/Facility: Northern Health
Project/Initiative: Integrated Cancer Control Improvement Program
Team/Project Leader: Dan Le - Project Manager, Special Projects
Location: Prince George
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Dan Le; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Northern Health’s nine community cancer clinics serve a small, widely dispersed population, meaning cancer patients and care providers must often travel large distances to connect. Clinics are also up against fiscal restraints and a history of unco-ordinated problem-solving and communication.
In 2008, Dan Le and his team at Northern Health’s Integrated Cancer Control Improvement program sought to encourage the sharing of best practice ideas across this vast geographical area and develop integrated solutions to streamline cancer care services for patients in the North. The program uses a modified version of the process mapping methodology developed by such leading institutions as the UK’s National Health Services and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Process mapping is used as both a planning and communication tool to facilitate the sharing of problems and solutions between cancer clinics in the North.
Key principles of the program include the establishment of multidisciplinary groups, the engagement of numerous stakeholders and the development of integrated cancer control solutions that are respectful of the unique challenges of the North.
The approach has led to immediate, profound and sustainable results across the continuum of cancer care. The North now has its first Integrated Breast Health Clinic at Prince George Regional Hospital, resulting in increased convenience for patients and a decrease in the number of mandatory patient visits. A new regional oncology website connects physicians and clearly identifies referral patterns. Discharge teaching packages have been developed and distributed, so that northern Cancer clinics can learn about best practices from other Canadian clinics. And new Cancer Care Patient Maps have been created with input from a variety of stakeholders.
Team members: Dan Le, Heather Wozney, LaDonna Fehr, Michelle Sutter, Christine Kurz, Larry Breckon, Winston Bishop and Janis Davis.
COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS
2009 Award of Merit Recipients top
Organization/Facility: Interior Health
Project/Initiative: Transitional Duties Program: A Collaborative Effort
Team/Project Leader: Daryl Donovan - Workplace Health & Safety Consultant
Location: Kelowna
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Daryl Donovan; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Recognizing that there is a severe shortage of healthcare workers and an ongoing rise in work-related claims costs, Interior Health worked jointly with WorkSafeBC to implement a ‘Transitional Duties Program’ (TDP). Introduced in 2007 at Interior Health’s Kelowna area residential care facilities, the pilot program is designed to educate managers, employees and physicians on the benefits of returning to the workplace as soon as medically possible. Benefits include decreased claims costs, increased employee satisfaction, use of best practice standards and an increase in physician awareness on effective disability management processes. Prior to the implementation of the TDP, the WorkSafeBC short-term disability duration for the Interior Health Okanagan area was at 41.7 days. By June of 2008, it was to 33.9 days. The TDP program is now being introduced across Interior Health.
Team members: Daryl Donovan and Lynn Stevens, a registered nurse at WorkSafeBC.
Organization/Facility: B.C. Health Authorities/BC Medical Association
(BCMA)/ Ministry of Health Services
Project/Initiative: Provincial Surgical Patient Registry (SPR)
Team/Project Leader: Provincial Surgical Services Steering Committee
Location: Vancouver
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Brian Schmidt; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
The Surgical Patient Registry (SPR) aims to improve surgical services for the people of
B.C. by providing common sets of accurate, consistent and complete information for
surgeons, hospitals, health authorities and the Ministry of Health Services. The registry receives surgical booking data from all B.C. hospital OR booking systems and tracks patient demographics, types of procedure, location of facility and the number of weeks a patient has waited. It also tracks which surgeries have been postponed or cancelled and why.
The registry is a day-to-day management tool for health authority staff and surgeons
as part of a unique arrangement whereby health authorities own and manage their data within the general stewardship of the Provincial Health Services Authority. Privacy and security mechanisms ensure confidentiality.
Team members: The Provincial Surgical Services Steering Committee is chaired by Brian Schmidt of the Provincial Health Services Authority and includes members from each health authority, the BCMA and the Ministry of Health Services.
Academic Health
2009 Gold Apple Winner top
Organization/Facility: Provincial Health Services Authority
Team/Project Leader: Grace Mickelson - Corporate Director, Academic Development
Location: Vancouver
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Howard Waldner; Grace Mickelson; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Grace Mickelson has been a champion of healthcare education and innovation for nearly 18 years. Originally trained as a nurse, Grace returned to university to earn her Master’s in Education in 1991. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to improve the learning landscape of B.C.’s health professions. Most recently, as Corporate Director of Academic Development for the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), Grace has led educational and academic activities across the eight PHSA agencies.
Grace has been particularly focused on interdisciplinary and interprofessional models, playing a leading role both within B.C. and nationally. She has provided extraordinary leadership on a number of projects undertaken through the Practice Education Innovation Fund and served as founding co-chair of the Educational Advisory Committee on the Oak Street campus. More recently she took the lead in creating an academic planning committee that serves the corporate needs of PHSA and facilitates integration of academic activities across the agencies.
As project lead for the Practice Education Collaborative of BC, Grace co-ordinated a province-wide initiative to develop standardized practice education policy guidelines for all disciplines. But perhaps her most tangible achievement is the development of an educational culture at the Children’s & Women’s Health Centre of BC and across the spectrum of PHSA agencies, which, under Grace’s guidance, have moved to standardize a bewildering array of affiliation agreements with external educational partners.
In addition to today’s Academic Health Award, Grace has received an award of excellence in education from the Children’s & Women’s Health Centre and an award of distinction in nursing from the Registered Nurses’ Association of British Columbia.
Academic Health
2009 Award of Merit Recipients top
Organization/Facility: Vancouver Coastal Health
Project/Initiative: Professional Communication for Internationally Educated Health Professionals Program
Team/Project Leader: Pat Semeniuk - Regional Director, Learning and Career Development
Location: Vancouver
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Pat Semeniuk; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
This project was initiated by Vancouver Coastal Health, Providence Health Care, Fraser Health and other stakeholders to provide multi-level, health sector-specific professional communication training programs for Internationally Educated Health Professionals (IEHPs). The pilot program, which will be completed by December 2009, provides IEHPs with an awareness of the professional culture of healthcare practice in Canada. Through role play of case studies and simulated scenarios, participants learn a patient-centred care approach and receive practice and feedback on their performance. Appropriate language and communication coaching is provided to familiarize IEHPs with the expected responses and practices in a range of healthcare settings, and video-taped recordings are used to critically evaluate health professional-patient communication.
Team members: Sandy Berman, Pat Semeniuk, Candy Garossino, Karen Jonson, Douglas Baker, Jas Palmer, Pam Hunt, Lesley Hemsworth and Krista Wallace.
Organization/Facility: Fraser Health
Project/Initiative: Student-Run Physiotherapy Outpatient Clinic
Team/Project Leader: Scott Brolin - Rehabilitation Project Leader
Location: New Westminster
Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Scott Brolin; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Health professional students need clinical experiences with patients who have unresolved chronic health issues and chronic impairments. They also need new opportunities for inter-professional learning experiences. This project offers both, as well as providing enhanced clinical health services for stroke survivors, frail elderly, diabetics and others with chronic diseases. The result of Scott’s vision and hard work, this physiotherapy student-run clinical service was opened in June 2009 in an under-utilized former out-patient facility at Royal Columbian Hospital. The clinic is staffed with six physical therapy students under the direction of a single physiotherapy clinician. Scott drafted the initial business case, forged the necessary partnerships and successfully communicated his plan to all potential stakeholders. Plans are underway expand the clinic to an inter-professional student learning experience within the next year.
Healthcare Heroes
2009 Gold Apple Winner top
Fraser Health Hero: Elaine MacPherson - Nurse
Organization: White Rock/Surrey Come Share Society
Location: White Rock/Surrey
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Elaine MacPherson; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Asked to describe Elaine MacPherson, her clients and colleagues use phrases such as
“one in a million” and “forgiving, generous and never out of patience.” Says one client
simply: “She helped me cope when I didn’t think I had the strength.” Elaine has been a nurse for 49 years and is currently working at the White Rock/Surrey Come Share Society. Over the years, Elaine has become known not only for her exceptional nursing skills but also for the many other wonderful qualities she brings to her job. Her patients know by her actions, tone, eye contact and ongoing reassurances that they are in capable hands.
Elaine’s compassion is not limited to her patients–she will also sit at the bedsides
of ailing friends, neighbours and family to provide support, love and caring. One
Christmas, Elaine gave patients at a care facility a true Christmas when they had no
one else to share it with. Everyone enjoyed breakfast in their robes, eggnog with a drop of rum and presents. While her commitment to nursing has become legendary, Elaine herself remains modest about her contributions. Says one colleague: “She is so humble about her abilities. She is truly amazed by the flood of compliments and the respect she has earned her over years of work in hospitals, care facilities and day programs.”
Interior Health Hero: Kelly Keating - Power Engineer 4
Organization: Shuswap Lake General Hospital
Location: Salmon Arm
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Kelly Keating; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Kelly Keating joined the maintenance department of Shuswap Lake General Hospital
in 1973 and just recently retired. Over the years, he made it his mission to ensure that the hospital ran like a well-oiled machine. Under Kelly’s watch, hospital equipment was always properly maintained and repaired. Crisis situations were handled quickly and efficiently. Even the boiler room was spotless, right down to the highly polished floors.
Kelly’s dedication to the hospital had few limits. He rarely called in sick and considered
sick days a benefit, not a right. Even when he was in considerable pain awaiting knee surgery, Kelly showed up to work every day with a smile on his face. One night, shortly before his surgery was scheduled, he received a call at 1:00 AM from the nursing staff, who complained of an unpleasant smell. Off he went to the hospital, where he spent five hours investigating and solving the problem. He then went home to shower and returned in time to start his shift at 7:00 AM. There are countless other stories just like this one.
Northern Health Hero: Claire Kirk – Long-Term Care Case Manager
Organization: Home & Community Care Dawson Health Unit
Location: Dawson Creek
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Claire Kirk; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
In the small community of Dawson Creek, where she worked at the Home & Community Care Dawson Creek Health Unit until her recent retirement, Claire is known as a strong advocate for seniors and for always going above and beyond. On her own time, Claire made sure patients had enough food at home and that snow was shovelled from their walks. When elders were no longer able to live at home, she helped them transition to residential care. A true role model when it comes to elder care and advocacy, Claire has mentored many young nurses. When faced with difficult patient-care challenges, they turned to Claire for help. An exemplary leader, Claire was an excellent support for clients and staff in her small community.
Claire’s compassion and dedication know no borders. In addition to her contributions to Dawson Creek, she has made a number of trips to Haiti to do volunteer work. “Claire is loyal,” says a co-worker. “She is just. She is a fabulous mentor and a treasure to the organization. An incredible nurse and human being, she leaves huge shoes to fill.”
Provincial Health Services Authority Hero: Melissa Sallows – Clinical Nurse Educator
Organization: BC Children’s Hospital
Location: Vancouver
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Melissa Sallows; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Melissa has never been afraid of challenges. Raised in a small Ontario town, she left her friends and family behind to pursue her dream of becoming a pediatric nurse on the West Coast. She arrived in Vancouver not knowing a soul and joined the newly formed Nursing Resource Team at BC Children’s Hospital. From the start, she was a positive ambassador for the resource team throughout the hospital. She mentored new team members and organized the work schedules, all the while maintaining her own professional development.
Vancouver Coastal HealthHero: Jennifer Pattenaude – RN
Organization: Evergreen House Extended Care
Location: North Vancouver
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Jennifer Pattenaude; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
Staff members seek her advice when they have problems, residents depend on her, and families confide in her, even when she is not directly responsible for their loved ones. Jennifer is a pillar of strength and poise in an environment that can be extremely stressful and chaotic. She is the quiet hero of Evergreen, expecting no praise or reward for her hard work and commitment; a selfless individual who will never know the full impact she has on those around her.
Vancouver Coastal HealthHero: Karen O'Shannacery – CEO and Director
Organization: Lookout Emergency Aid Society
Location: Vancouver
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Karen O'Shannacery; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
When Karen O’Shannacery sees a homeless person on the streets of Vancouver, she is reminded of her former self. Growing up in a troubled home, Karen ran away at the age of 14 and spent the next four years homeless. That difficult time left an indelible mark and inspired her to help others who find themselves in the same desperate situation.
Karen embarked on her life’s work at 18, when she took a job at a local youth shelter. It wasn’t long before she noticed the vast number of people the shelter was turning away. So in 1971, she and some other employees started the Lookout Emergency Aid Society. A non-profit, charitable organization, Lookout helps men and women coping with mental illness or handicaps, medical problems, physical disabilities, social dysfunctions or addiction who too often find themselves destitute and homeless. Today, Lookout is one of B.C.’s largest non-profits that serve the homeless. Its two emergency shelters—in Vancouver and on the North Shore—provide emergency housing and services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to more than 3,000 homeless men and women annually. Karen has been hailed as an angel by her peers, who say few have done so much, for so many, for so long, and with often so little assistance.
Vancouver Island Health Authority Hero: Giuseppe “Joe” Scaletta - Co-ordinator
Organization: Elderly Outreach Service and Victoria Innovative Seniors
Treatmemt Approach
Location: Victoria
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Giuseppe "Joe" Scaletta; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
For the past 20 years, Joe has been a teacher, leader, mentor and inspiration to colleagues throughout the province in the effort to combat elder abuse—be it financial, physical or psychological. Until his recent retirement, Joe was co-ordinator of the Elderly Outreach Service and Victoria Innovative Seniors Treatment Approach, both seniors’ community mental health and addictions programs serving the South Island area. Whenever there was an issue involving abuse, neglect or self-neglect of a vulnerable adult, Joe was the person who was called. Colleagues relied on his extensive experience using the Adult Guardianship Act to intervene and keep abusers away from older adult victims. Joe didn’t just protect seniors; he also supported staff in challenging situations.
Joe’s work was by no means easy. This area of practice requires great expertise and the knowledge to navigate through many diverse pieces of legislation. It also takes great courage and infinite patience. Joe has had a profound impact on many lives. Any attempt to express just how significant his contributions have been to this vulnerable population would surely fall short.
Healthcare Hero - Provincial
Northern Health Hero: Claire Kirk – Long-Term Care Case Manager
Organization: Home & Community Care Dawson Health Unit
Location: Dawson Creek
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Left to Right:
Lee Doney, HEABC President and CEO; Claire Kirk; Alice Downing, HEABC Board Chair
In the small community of Dawson Creek, where she worked at the Home & Community Care Dawson Creek Health Unit until her recent retirement, Claire is known as a strong advocate for seniors and for always going above and beyond. On her own time, Claire made sure patients had enough food at home and that snow was shovelled from their walks. When elders were no longer able to live at home, she helped them transition to residential care. A true role model when it comes to elder care and advocacy, Claire has mentored many young nurses. When faced with difficult patient-care challenges, they turned to Claire for help. An exemplary leader, Claire was an excellent support for clients and staff in her small community.
Claire’s compassion and dedication know no borders. In addition to her contributions to Dawson Creek, she has made a number of trips to Haiti to do volunteer work. “Claire is loyal,” says a co-worker. “She is just. She is a fabulous mentor and a treasure to the organization. An incredible nurse and human being, she leaves huge shoes to fill.”