Every Tuesday and Thursday, seniors walk through the doors of the Geriatric Assessment Unit at UHNBC with everything from broken bones to memory loss all looking for some rehabilitation and therapy - but the unit may be undergoing some major changes in the near future.
Designed in 2005 by Dr. Douglas Drummond, it's the only one of its kind in Northern and Central B.C. to combine a biological, psychological and social approach to seniors health issues. It currently runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Including the doctor, who is a general practitioner with advanced training in geriatric medicine, the program offers a physiotherapist, a nurse and an occupational therapist.
The main goal of the program is to give seniors the strength and tools to allow them to be independent and mobile.
Drummond's last day at the hospital was Dec. 8.
He left his position after the unit manager "decided to bring efficiency to our department," he said.
UHNBC admits they are discussing some proposed changes to the unit but nothing has been confirmed.
"There are no cuts planned. What has happened is, there's been a number of conversations over the last couple of months with a variety of stakeholders to increase the number of clients we see in the GAT unit," said Michael McMillan, chief operating
officer, UHNBC.
"It's about changing the hours. So, instead of one program that runs for the middle part of the day, two days a week, could we change the hours to actually have two groups and increase the capacity? Have we made the decision to do that, no we haven't," said
McMillan.
He said the hospitals goal in making the changes are to increase capacity and connecting all of the different senior services so they are more integrated.
"Part of [the] plan is going to result in the curtailment of the geriatric day hospital, which is something that I have worked long and hard to nurture and develop along with my colleagues here and I think that's a very bad idea," said Drummond.
"[The manager] wants to take [the unit] from a four-and-a-half hour program to a two-and-a-half hour program so that she can deploy the staff to do other jobs for the rest of the time, but two hours is not enough to do the work we need to do at the day hospital."
Former city councillor Phyllis Parker is one of the patients currently enrolled in the GAT Unit and is upset at the potential changes to the unit.
"The present program is group therapy in action," said Parker. "It's a leader in group therapy, it is one of the best functioning groups doing their own therapy that I've seen with staff, who are knowledgeable, intelligent and loving and who don't interfere.
"But instead they step back and grin when the process is happening. You can't get that in two hour sessions."
Parker ended up at the unit after falling and breaking a bone in her leg, resulting in the leg healing incorrectly.
She was referred to Drummond who commented she was too young to go around with a leg like that and she should get her knee replaced.
Her new knee coupled with scleroderma makes the rehabilitation efforts essential in keeping her mobile.
"I'm still having some trouble with the knee and I need lots of physio... I'm a walking basketcase without the unit," said Parker.
She added that Prince George is evolving into a retirement community for a lot of seniors, but services aren't keeping up with that trend.
"For a city that welcomes senior citizens in their retirement years, it's a step back for our city and not progressive thinking about the image of our city," said Parker.
Several of his patients reported hearing the unit's hours would be cut in half, causing an outrage among the his client list.
"They want to change it to two, two-hour sessions. That [small] amount of time dilutes the program. I think that it is what [he] is worried about.
"It's not the same program when you start racing people through you can race old people. You ever seen old people walking with their walkers? They aren't going anywhere in a hurry," said Parker.
She added that while the city's population is getting older, services aren't keeping up with needs.
There aren't any lanes for motorized scooters and some sidewalks are in bad condition, especially in the winter months, making it difficult for seniors who use walking aids to get around.
Drummond first worked with seniors when he took over a practice in the Lower Mainland that had a large number of elderly patients that weren't being taken care of properly.
"I set a goal of righting that wrong and making sure they were properly assessed and none of them had medication lists. Most of them were on pretty horrible medications so I made it a challenge... I ended up liking them and they liked me, so I ended up doing some additional training in geriatrics," he said.
The GAT unit program is a program the doctor is proud of and despite his resignation, he doesn't want to see the program changed after he leaves his northern post.
"My colleagues and I are people who just love geriatrics and people who are here by choice. As opposed to some other [similar] units I've worked in the past, where people have landed with a duty to accommodate," he said.
"This is unique insofar as everyone here is here by choice because we like this kind of work. We approach the work we do with the same kind of focus and intensity that an organ transplant service would apply to their patients," he said.
Drummond had initially planned on leaving his position at the hospital in April and was intending to provide some training to his replacement.
He is disappointed he's leaving four months earlier than planned.
The unit is very focused on training. The team has a rotation of medical students working in the day hospital as part of their core training.
The doctor hopes that will continue long after he leaves and learning more about geriatric medicine will continue to be a part of the curriculum.
"I feel privileged to be part of the education process. Trainees now get a lot of geriatrics. When I trained, I got exactly zero experience. There was no geriatrics whatsoever in the classroom or the clinical element."
McMillan said he couldn't comment on Drummond's decision to leave earlier than planned and he said he doesn't understand why he would claim the program is going to be gutted.
Virginia Jenkins' husband, Wayne, has been a patient of Drummond's since 2005.
He participated in the largest component of the unit, the memory-disorders clinic.
"[Alzheimer's] is really hard to live with. My husband is OK - but how many times do you want to hear the same story," Jenkins said through tears.
"Of all the new referrals I received, 60 to 65 per cent are from people who have started experiencing memory loss," said Drummond.
Jenkins is panicked. She will have to travel to Vancouver with her husband for him to receive treatment without a physician in town who has the same qualifications.
"[Drummond] is a physician with advanced training in geriatrics. There isn't another person exactly like him stepping up. That being said, we are actually talking to a number of geriatricians in the province about services in Prince George. I expect very quickly to have an interim plan... there are actual geriatricians who come to other communities on an outreach basis from the Lower Mainland to the north and we are currently talking to them," said McMillan.
Finding a geriatrician in B.C. is akin to finding a four-leaf clover.
In 2000, there were only 144 geriatricians in all of Canada according to the National Advisory Council of Aging.
In 2003, the council raised concerns about the relatively low number of these specialists.
According to the Ministry of Health there are currently 41 geriatricians in the
province.
Geriatric medicine is a sub-specialty of internal medicine, which means physicians must qualify as an internal medicine specialist first and then enter a two-year
subspecialty residency.
Despite the scarce numbers of qualified physicians available, McMillan predicts there won't be any interruption to services.
"I suspect we will sustain the services. In fact, I know that a number of physicians have stepped up within the community. Again, people with specialized training are stepping up and the services will continue. I really trust in the planning process that is underway."
"While we may not be curing things, we instead aimed at making things better and in seeing the humanity behind seeing those problems," said Drummond.
