Derek Kilbourn, Gabriola SounderJune 25, 2012

Derek Kilbourn Photo

Derek Kilbourn Photo

Mid-Island Co-op Gabriola manager Alan Andre (centre) presented a cheque for $4,080 to Gabriola Health Care Foundation President Jill Adamson and Treasurer Harvey Graham in the new Urgent Care room at the Community Health Centre just before the Centre opened this month. The monies were raised through the Foundation’s COOP member number. To raise the $4,080, over $127,000 was spent at Mid-Island Co-op using the Foundation number, #611459.

Flying ShingleJune 18, 2012

The Gabriola Island Health Care Foundation, Society, and Auxiliary have all been honoured by the Islands Trust (IT) for their work in building the urgent treatment room and medical offices at the community clinic at the top of Church Street.

In a June 13 press release regarding the IT’s 2012 Community Stewardship Awards, Trust Council Chair Sheila Malcolmson said: “These awards acknowledge individuals and groups who make significant contributions towards preserving the community, culture, or environment of an island. The award program is designed to celebrate the dedicated people who have donated countless hours in service to preserving and protecting the Islands Trust Area, in cooperation with others”.

“This year”, she said, “we had a record number of nominations with 14 individuals and four groups nominated for the awards. The diverse nature of the work of the nominees and the quality of the projects in which they have been involved is incredible. This year we increased the number of awards from six to eight to recognise the extraordinary achievements of this year’s pool of nominees”.

The press release also notes that the Trust added a new category this year “to recognise and encourage the actions of individuals and organisations that are working in the area of climate change”.

The award will be presented to the health society at a Local Trust Committee meeting the press release says.

Derek Kilbourn, Gabriola SounderJune 13, 2012

The Gabriola Health Care Foundation, Society and Auxiliary have won a 2012 Islands Trust Community Stewardship Award.

Nominated earlier this spring, the groups responsible for the construction of the Gabriola Island Community Health Centre and urgent care clinic on Church Road were recognized by the Trust Council at the Council’s quarterly meeting on North Pender Island, held this week from Tuesday to Thursday.

“These awards acknowledge individuals and groups who make significant contributions towards preserving the community, culture or environment of an island,” said Sheila Malcolmson, Chair of the Islands Trust Council. “The award program is designed to celebrate the dedicated people who have donated countless hours in service to preserving and protecting the Islands Trust Area, in cooperation with others.”

“This year we had a record number of nominations with 14 individuals and four groups nominated for the awards,” said Malcolmson. “The diverse nature of the work of the nominees and the quality of the projects in which they have been involved is incredible. This year we increased the number of awards from six to eight to recognize the extraordinary achievements of this year’s pool of nominees.”

In 2009, the Islands Trust added a new category to the Community Stewardship Award Program to recognize and encourage the actions of individuals and organizations that are working in the area of climate change.

The individual awards go to:

• Stuart Watson, Gambier Island, for his work with the Gambier Fire Equipment Group and Langdale Access Group

• Margot Venton, North Pender Island, for working to protect the Southern Resident Killer Whale

• Anne Macey, Salt Spring Island, for supporting agriculture and food security

In addition to the Gabriola Health Care Foundation et al, group awards were given to:

• Hornby Quilters Group for 36 years of fundraising and;

• Saturna Ecological Education Centre for building an Ecological School.

The climate change award goes to Dr. Donald Marshall, Bowen Island, for initiatives to reduce, reuse and recycle.

A special enduring achievement award goes to Peter Karsten, Denman Island, for conservation programs and projects.

The Community Stewardship Awards will be presented on the islands where the recipients live, at local trust committee meetings and at a Bowen Island municipal council meeting later this year. Next year’s award nominations will open in March 2013.

Derek Kilbourn, Gabriola SounderJune 12, 2012

The staff, doctors and urgent response clinic have now moved in to their permanent home in the Gabriola Community Health Centre on Church Road.

Effective this past Friday, the urgent care rooms at the new Health Centre were open and available if required for emergencies, this included the ambulance bay.

And as of today, Monday June 11, the doctors will be seeing their patients for regular hours at the new centre.

Harvey Graham, Treasurer for the Gabriola Health Care Foundation was part of the first meetings which envisioned a community health centre for Gabriola. He said those meetings started in 2003 and led to the creation of the temporary clinic. According to Sounder archives, the temporary facility, with the single emergency room, was opened for patients just under five years ago on Tuesday, July 3, 2007.

The occupancy permit was approved just this past week and over the past week, clinic staff and volunteers have been moving supplies in to the urgent care rooms at the new Health Centre so that there would be zero downtime between when the temporary rooms at Twin Beaches were closed and the permanent rooms were opened on Friday.

Jill Adamson, GHCF President said, “I’m really proud of this whole thing and everyone that has worked on it. It is unbelievable. To come in on time and under budget is pretty amazing.”

Harvey said, “the people who came to lead this [construction] project are incredible. Graham Macdonald, Mike Phillips, Chuck Conners and John Campbell and all the others.

“We have a chart downstairs with the timeline we produced last August [2011]. It said we are going to be moving in in June. We’re bang on schedule. Amazing with volunteers because you never really know who’s going to show up which day.”

Jill added, “I think anyone who’s had anything to do with this whatsoever, they are so thoroughly thrilled to have worked on this.”

The grand opening of the Centre will be on August 5, 2012 between 1 pm and 3 pm outside of the Centre.

For the past month, the staff at the temporary clinic have been handing out leaflets and contacting patients to let them know the phone number and other contact information for the clinic will remain the same. They also ask patients call 3-4 weeks ahead for routine follow up appointments.

Flying ShingleJune 11, 2012

‘Most of the hard-working volunteers’ who helped make the clinic a reality take time to pose in front of the new clinic. ~ Photo (and quote) by Don Butt

The Gabriola community-owned urgent treatment room (UTR) and medical offices moved Friday from their temporary location at Twin Beaches to their permanent site at the top of Church Road.

As previously reported the new building was built thanks to the fund-raising efforts of the Gabriola Health Care Foundation and auxiliary, which has raised over $1.3 million, and the voluntary help of many building contractors.

Foundation members hope the new building will attract enough doctors to staff the UTR on a full-time basis.

by Al Strano, coodrinator, Tour de Gabriola Committee, Flying ShingleJune 11, 2012

After eight bike marathons raising about $30,000, the Tour de Gabriola has reached the finish line.

Although they had many other things to do, 35 Gabriolans participated in this year’s ride and the Walk to the Future. They collected $2,000 – our final contribution toward the establishment of our community-owned medical clinic.

Inger Martin, Liz Ciocea, Margaret Litt, and Ron De Cuypere provided support this year, while Linden Boyle (age 1) and Connor Reid (age 7) gave hope for the future.

Thanks once again to the Village Food Market, The Commons, the Flying Shingle, and everyone else who supported the tour over the years .

Like King Arthur, the tour has now retired and will come back only if needed.

Island Tides, May 17, 2012

After six years of planning, hard work and dedication, the doors of the new Gabriola Community Health Centre will soon be open for its first patients. Gabriolans worked tirelessly to build the community-owned urgent care facility and associated primary care clinic for the community.

Volunteer Coordinator John Campbell has called the project the ‘Miracle on Church Street.’ He calculates that the volunteer labour contributed is worth about $1.5 million. Generous donations and work pledges also provided integral support for the project.

The official opening in August will coincide with the release of a 200-page book, Our Clinic: The Visionary Path to Local Health Care on Gabriola Island, by Gabriola writer Bruce Mason.

In the book, Islands Trust Council Chair Sheila Malcolmson is quoted, ‘The energy and tenacity of the GHCS volunteers and board, and our incredible doctors, are impressive. It’s been a pleasure to watch the clinic building rise, in the tradition of our community hall decades ago.

It is a great example of selfreliance and the Island Way.’ The book will not only serve as a fundraiser, but an experience to share with other communities as governments downsize.

Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun, May 3, 2012

In 2002, Gabriola Island felt the sting of austerity. It lost the use of its ferry for nighttime emergency evacuations to Nanaimo. This fell into the category of minor inconvenience, unless you were inconveniently having a stroke or going into labour or in need of emergency surgery any-time after dark. Then you had to get off-island any way you could. There was simply nothing there to handle dire emergencies. Gabriola had no health clinic, and the island's sole full-time physician was having to respond to nighttime calls without being paid for them.

"It was already difficult to make a living as a doctor," wrote Bruce Mason, a reporter for the Gabriola Sounder, in an email. "They came and went because so many people had doctors in Nanaimo for continuity and familiarity, or kept family doctors they had in Victoria or Vancouver before moving here. "We had no facility to recruit and retain doctors, to store drugs [such as clot-busting drugs] or to diagnose and stabilize patients." The island's string of doctors were literally, at times, operating out of the trunks of their cars. Sometimes, they used medicine borrowed from paramedics.

"We managed to get our hands on a Lifepak 12 defibrillator," said Dr. Bob Henderson, a rural locum [temporary] physician who lives in Gabriola, "and we carried it around in our cars. We didn't have any place to put it." To take the place of the ferry, the Nanaimo patrol vessel was hired for nighttime evacuations, but too often its other duties made it unavailable. The backup was a coast guard auxiliary's open Zodiac.

"There were some memorable rides," Henderson said. "When the patients were evacuated, we [the doctors] couldn't go with them, and a five-mile crossing in a strong sea in an open boat in November could be pretty unpleasant. I remember one elderly woman who was bleeding, and we had her on an intravenous, and we basically had to get her in the Zodiac and cover her with a plastic sheet for protection." The jerry-rigged nature of Gabriola's health care convinced Henderson and Mason and many of the island's 4,000 full-time residents that it was time the island had its own health clinic.

The problem? There was no money coming from the province to build it.

In January 2007, residents formed the Gabriola Health Care Society. By soliciting donations from ferry users, they raised $30,000 on the St. Patrick's Day weekend, and by July 2007, volunteers had built an interim health care clinic in a vacant liquor store. A second doctor was hired. "There was an immediate impact on the emergency room in Nanaimo," Mason wrote. "There were estimates that as many as 90 per cent of visits to the Nanaimo Regional Hospital had been unnecessary and that we were saving more than $200,000 a year as well as lives."

The success of the interim clinic spurred a campaign for a permanent one. In 2010, the society started a volunteer-run "Year of the Clinic" fundraising campaign out of a donated storefront. The society raised more than $25,000 in ice cream sales alone. It made $140,000 with more than 30 fundraising events. The Gabriola Lions donated $105,000, the Gabriola Ambulance Society, $30,000. Grants of almost $60,000 came in from foundations, banks and private businesses. Private donations from residents ranged from penny jars to cheques for $50,000. In all, residents donated $857,000, while off-islanders donated $105,000. And an islander, Bob Rooks, a retired veterinarian, donated 4.1 acres of land for the new clinic.

Dozens of local businesses and skilled craftspeople lined up to donate their services in kind - an architect, a lawyer, electricians, plumbers, masons, drywallers, framers, landscapers, heavy equipment operators, roofers, surveyors, even a cleaning ser-vice for the portable toilets. The society held a ceremonial groundbreaking in June 2011, and collected $130,000 in donations from the 400 people who attended.

The new clinic is almost done, and should open by the end of the month. It's a handsome building that recalls a native longhouse, with accent timbers from trees logged on the island. The metal roof collects rainwater for non-potable use. The clinic has three emergency beds, an eye examination room, room for up to four physicians and all the drugs and diagnostic tools needed to stabilize patients on-island. A $100,000 grant from the Vancouver Island Health Authority helped stock it.

While that government money was appreciated, the cure to what ailed Gabriola came from elsewhere. "The real story," Mason said, "was the incredible work and effort the islanders did to get it done themselves." pmcmartin@vancouversun.com

Flying ShingleMay 7, 2012

Chuck Connor, project manager at the Community Clinic building site, tells event emcee Shelagh Rogers a bit about the building process. ~ Photo by Chris Bowers

A new helicopter pad received a sound dedication April 28, as scores of Gabriolans turned up at the new Community Clinic to celebrate the event.

The funds for the helipad were donated to the Gabriola Health Care Foundation by the Gabriola Ambulance Society (GAS) because, as GAS Chair Katherine Gordon said, the society thought the helipad would be the most meaningful contribution they could make to the new urgent treatment room and medical offices. She said the helipad will drastically reduce the time it takes to get patients into the hospital.

Derek Kilbourn, Gabriola SounderApril 30, 2012

The Gabriola Ambulance Society dedicated the new helipad at the Gabriola Community Health Centre this past Saturday afternoon.

The helipad was built through the donation of $10,000 from the Ambulance Society and volunteer labour.

The afternoon celebration was hosted by the Gabriola Health Care Auxiliary with many of the volunteers involved in building the new clinic and helipad. It was emcee’d by Shelagh Rogers.

Dr. Tracey Thorne and Dr. Francois Bosman serve as the on-call doctors for Gabriola.

Tracey described the current emergency response for helicopters means having an ambulance respond with the patient to Twin Beaches, and then driving from the temporary clinic at Twin Beaches down to the Rollo ball fields where helicopters currently land.

She said having the helipad located adjacent to the clinic will save patients being transported for sometimes thirty minutes over Gabriola’s bumpy roads.

“This will save huge amounts of time when every minute counts for those patients. It is going to make a difference in the long term.

“I really want to thank the Ambulance Society for having the forethought that this was something they were willing to fund and do.

“When we went in to designing the new clinic this was an idea, that we would at some point have a helicopter pad.

“I don’t think any of us thought we’d have it now before we had the rest of the clinic.

“It’s tremendous and that’s because of the willingness of the Ambulance Society to prioritize that and to realize that’s an important thing for this community.

“Thank you to the ambulance crew Francois and I work with on an almost too-regular basis. We should all be very proud and grateful to have such wonderful committed people who work for very little in a huge way to support health and wellness on this island.”

Lawrence Stephenson, superintendent with BC Ambulance Service said the H on the helipad stands for, “Hover Helicopter Here.”

He had high praise for the ambulance crews of the island. “You all have so much to be proud of. The continuum of care, to be brought to this clinic, taken to that pad and within a short amount of time be arriving at the Victoria or Vancouver hospital. That is the rapid response and rapid transport that patients require when time is of the essence. This community has created that opportunity by not only building this incredible clinic, but also by having this helipad here.”

Katherine Gordon (pictured above), representing the Gabriola Ambulance Society, singled out former GAS President Tawny Maclachlan Capon for recommending GAS sponsor the construction of the helipad in conjunction with the Clinic.

Katherine pointed to donations made by the Rollo, Drake and Bracke families many years ago as being part of the foundation of the funds which allowed the Ambulance Society to make the donation of the helipad. She added that between between 1974 and 1981, Gabriola’s volunteer ambulance attendants and drivers donated to the Society all the stipends they received from the provincial government, adding to the Society’s financial well-being.

From this and the ongoing donations they receive from the community, the Society has donated $30,000 to the construction of the new clinic and in particular, $10,000 for the construction of the helipad.

“I know the Ambulance Society Board takes great comfort in knowing this helipad is here to serve everyone and anyone who may need it in an emergency. I would therefore like to dedicate this helicopter pad in the name of the Gabriola Ambulance Society to the Gabriola Community Clinic; to the hundreds of tireless volunteers and donors who have contributed to the clinic project and; to the people of Gabriola and Mudge Islands.

“Thank you all and may you never need this helipad yourselves.”

The helipad will be open for emergency use once it has received Transport Canada approval.

Another look at the new helipad with the ambulance bay facing the pad. Photo taken prior to Saturday’s dedication. Don Butt photo

Darrell Bellaart, Daily News, April 19, 2012

A health clinic on Gabriola Island is expected to help ease strain at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

On April 28, a celebration is planned on the Church Street location of the nearly-finished 9,000-square-foot Gabriola Island Community Health Clinic.

Until five years ago, Gabriolans went to NRGH for treatment for seriously illness or injury clinic but that can be a problem on an island where ferry service is only available in the daytime.

That changed when islanders opened their first "interim" clinic in 2007. It was a stopgap measure until a more permanent facility could be built, but the society that built it say it diverted Gabriolans from NRGH. They predict even greater improvements when the new clinic opens this summer.

Clinic construction is now finished, but the interim clinic will remain the first line of defence for urgent care until the Community Health Clinic is stocked with supplies and equipment.

"What we've been able to do is quite significantly reduce emergency ambulance service after hours and so forth, because they can do more with the interim clinic," said Donald Butt, who is actively involved in the campaign for the clinic.

Like other coastal communities, Gabriola's population is aging and with the rising age comes greater need for care.

Once the Gabriola ferry is berthed for the night, the only way to get emergency treatment was aboard the Coast Guard Auxiliary Zodiac.

"There were fewer people would call 911, because they don't want to bother people," said Bruce Mason, a Gabriola Health Care Society founding member.

"It was a real crisis, so five or six of us got together and formed a society."

The group eventually raised the $1.4 million needed to build it on 1.6 hectares of donated land.

Former society president Lawrence Spero said it's difficult to say how many patients the clinic has diverted from NRGH, "but certainly a large number are now treated on the island."

The urgent-care facility will treat bone breaks and fractures, unexpected births, heart attacks and strokes.

Future services may include palliative care. A heli-pad allows the most serious cases to be airlifted off the island.

Vancouver Island Health Authority, which put $100,000 toward the new clinic, said it saw a slight rise in admissions to NRGH since the urgent care clinic opened in 2007, but VIHA could only provide statistics for three of the five years.

They are not adjusted for shifting population or mean patient age.

"Maybe the true test will be to look at these numbers again after the new Health Centre has been operational for a couple of years," said Anya Nimmon, VIHA spokeswoman by e-mail.

DBellaart@nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4235

The Victoria Times Colonist April 18, 2012

The Gabriola Community Health Centre Photograph by: Randy Nicifore

Medical facilities are scattered across the Gulf Islands, but Gabriola Islanders believe they have something special.

The 9,000-square-foot building on Gabriola's Church Street, which is open for public tours Saturday, came about because many of the island's 4,200 residents contributed money to pay for construction. Even the land was donated by an Islander.

The Gabriola Community Health Centre "is nothing short of awesome," said Don Butt, a semi-retired physician and one of many residents who will benefit from the facility.

Residents spearheaded fundraising drives such as the "traditional" method of hitting up motorists for contributions as they parked in the ferry lineup, said Butt. There were also cycling competitions, ice cream sales and other activities.

Over three years, they raised $1.4 million to build the centre. Its replacement value is much higher, residents say.

The community-owned centre - Pender, Mayne, Galiano and Saturna islands also have locally-owned and operated medical clinics - has an urgent-care room with three beds, six examination rooms to accommodate three or more doctors, a nursing station, examination room for visiting specialists or counsellors and room to expand.

Urgent care includes unexpected births, the stabilization of broken bones and timely treatment of those who have suffered heart attacks and strokes. A helicopter pad is on site for patients who need immediate treatment at major hospitals elsewhere.

The island has been served since June 2007 by a smaller "interim" clinic with physicians adept at handling emergency cases.

Those needing additional medical treatment have, over the years, been transferred by coast guard auxiliary, harbour patrol vessels and B.C. Ferries.

The new clinic means elderly people will be able to stay on the island longer, said the 79-year-old Butt, who retired to Gabriola 16 years ago.

Bruce Mason, an islander for 10 years, used to look at Gabriola Island from his office at the University of B.C. He was one of a half-dozen people who formed a society with the aim of establishing a clinic.

In 2007, the society swelled in ranks and its members raised $30,000 to get an interim clinic operating. By 2010, they had raised $1 million. The Vancouver Island Health Authority also chipped in $100,000.

U.S. veterinarian and part-time resident Robert Rooks contributed a couple of hectares of centrallylocated land.

Public tours will take place at the new clinic from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The health centre is expected to officially open in early August.

smcculloch@timescolonist.com

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Flying ShingleMarch 19, 2012

Gabriola community clinic supporters gather in front of the building-in-progress. ~ Photo by Randy Nicifore

Many of the Gabriolans who have been involved in the creation of a community-owned clinic built to hold an urgent treatment room and medical offices gathered in front of the building on St. Patrick’s day (Saturday) to pose for a commemorative photo of the project.

The group shot will be included in Our Clinic, an upcoming book by Gabriola journalist Bruce Mason that records the history of the project, Gabriola Health Care Society Auxiliary Chair Nancy Nevison said Tuesday. She said the community photo was “organised to recognise and honour all those who helped raise over $22,000 for the interim Twin Beaches Medical Clinic on St. Patrick’s Day 2007 during the ‘Make Pat (Smith of Arbutus Lumber) pay on St. Paddy’s Day’ wearing of the green”!

As previously reported, thanks to community fundraising efforts, an urgent treatment room was built at the Twin Beaches mall, and doctors offices formerly behind the Mid Island Co-op were moved to that location.

Derek Kilbourn, Gabriola SounderMarch 19, 2012

The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has provided a one-time funding to the Gabriola Health Care Society in the amount of $100,000. The paperwork was inked on Friday March 16 last week.

Shannon Marshal, Media representative for VIHA said the funding was, “one-time funding of $100,000 to the Gabriola Health Care Society to help them complete their building.”

Victoria Power, Director, Primary Health Care, Chronic Disease Management and Rural Health Services wrote in her letter to the GHCS, “best wishes for the completion and planning of the new Gabriola Community Health Centre.”

Judith Graham, representing the GHCS, said the Society had written to VIHA to request funding for funding to help complete the construction of the new Clinic at the top of Church Street.

“We outlined what had been done so far, what was required [to finish] and that we’ve raised this much all and we need this much to close the funding gap.

“They came back with a beautiful and simple answer. We are thrilled.”

The funding contract outlines that the Gabriola Health Care Society, “serves as a catalyst to build capacity for the provision of primary health care services on Gabriola Island.

The monies had to be dispersed prior to March 31, 2012.

The contract also stipulates that in no event will VIHA be or become obligated to provide any amount exceeding the $100,000.

by Jill Adamson, President, GHCF, Flying ShingleFebruary 13, 2012

The Gabriola Health Care Foundation is pleased to report that we now have registered title to land on which the Gabriola Community Health Care Centre is being constructed. We extend a great big thank you to Dr. Rooks for his donation of the land, to Brian Henning and our lawyer, Gabriolan Matt Richards for the many volunteer hours required making this happen.

This is a great gift that will help ensure that future generations of Gabriolans have the superb health care they deserve.

Jill Adamson, GHCF President, Gabriola SounderFeb 13, 2012

The Gabriola Health Care Foundation is pleased to report that we now have registered title to land on which the Gabriola Community Health Care Centre is being constructed.

We extend a great big thank you to Dr. Rooks for his donation of the land, to Brian Henning, and our lawyer, Gabriolan Matt Richards for the many volunteer hours required to make this happen.

This is a great gift that will help ensure that future generations of Gabriolans have the superb health care they deserve.

by Bruce Mason, Flying ShingleFebruary 13, 2012

A book documenting and celebrating the decade-long struggle to transform healthcare and build an urgent treatment room and medical offices on Gabriola is in the works. It will be launched later this year when the clinic opens.

“Funds are being raised to get started on writing one of the most important stories in the Island’s history”, reports Bruce Mason, who will be the author of the book which will contain many photographs, some in colour.

Anyone with Gabriola healthcare stories, including memories of fundraising and the differences made in their own and Island life generally, please e-mail: brucemason@shaw.ca.

The goal is to produce a book worthy of the remarkable initiative, and everyone who would like to make a financial contribution to its production is welcome. It is hoped that all investments in the project will be returned from sales.

Flying ShingleJanuary 23, 2012

Doctor Daniele Behn Smith, who left the Gabriola Medical Clinic at Twin Beaches on maternity leave at the beginning of January, will not be returning to Gabriola after her baby is born.

Janice Kerr, an office manager at the clinic, said Wednesday that Behn Smith, who joined the Twin Beaches clinic in October, decided not to return to Gabriola after her maternity leave, due to other commitments she has in Victoria.

Kerr said Twin Beaches staff are disappointed to see Behn Smith go. “We loved her here”, Kerr said, adding that Behn Smith was a “good fit” with the rest of the team.

Nevertheless, Kerr said, they understand Behn Smith’s decision, and wish her all the best with her new baby. Kerr said the baby is due at the end of January.

There are no prospects to date for a replacement for Behn Smith, Kerr said.

Flying ShingleJanuary 9, 2012

Gabriolans check out the plans. ~ Photo by Denese Izzard-Ferris

Many Gabriolans answered a Dec. 28 invitation to check on the progress of a building meant to house a community-owned urgent treatment room and medical offices at the top of Church Street.