Participant, Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project

Do you rely on the Cowichan District Hospital to provide high quality care to you, your family and community? Do you feel committed to ensuring that patient and family perspectives are considered in early plans for a new hospital in the Cowichan Valley? If so, this might be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for!

Open to: Patient partners in the Cowichan Valley area

Lead Organization or Department

Island Health, Planning Department

Aim

Patient partners will be invited to draw upon their experiences of care at the Cowichan District Hospital, as well as their community knowledge to contribute to the discussion on the future services needed in a new hospital for the Cowichan Valley. Patient partners will help Island Health better understand and consider the perspectives of patients and families from the planning stage of the new community hospital.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

• Experience (personal or family) receiving care from the Cowichan District Hospital
• Lives in the Cowichan Valley area: Duncan, Lake Cowichan, Ladysmith, Chemainus, Mill Bay, Cobble Hill and Shawnigan Lake

Please note: This patient partner opportunity is not open to Island Health employees. The placement process for this opportunity may include an informal interview between the volunteer and the health care partner. New applicants must attend a Patient Voices Network orientation session and complete a Volunteer Agreement. To attend an orientation session, please contact Ashley Clark directly to see if accommodations may be possible.

Logistics

Number of vacancies: 4-6 Date, time, location: First week of March at the Cowichan District Hospital in Duncan. Commitment: One time event, approximately 4 hours, in the first week of March with the potential for further engagement in the future if the patient partner is agreeable.

Reimbursement

Pre-approved transportation & parking costs to attend meetings will be reimbursed by Island Health.

Background

In January 2013, Island Health confirmed its commitment to replace Cowichan District Hospital (CDH) and in summer 2018, the concept plan to replace CDH was approved by the provincial government. With the concept plan approved, the next step in the planning process is to prepare a detailed business plan in collaboration with community members, patient partners, clinical and non-clinical staff, physicians, local First Nations, and numerous community partners and organizations. Planning and construction for a new facility is a five-phase process that will take place over several years and there are a number of steps that must be taken before a new hospital can be built. The business plan will establish the service model solution and cost for the proposed hospital, and is the second step in the process. To support the development of the business plan, the CDH Replacement Project would like to host a discussion with patient partners to talk about the future of services. We want to learn more about your experience at the current hospital, and to hear from you what is important for us to consider as we plan for the future. This information will provide direction to our planning team as they work through the proposed services for the future site.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Ashley Clark
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Vancouver Island
250.812.8908
aclark@bcpsqc.ca