Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre
10 Year Anniversary
Clinic Highlight: Positive Health Services Clinic
The Positive Health Services Clinic at Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre (JPOCSC) is the only clinic in Fraser Health which specializes in providing multidisciplinary care for patients living with HIV and Hepatitis C.
The Clinic began with a staff of two, and is now almost 20 today. The Clinical team includes Infectious Disease Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Social Workers, and Dieticians.
Much has changed over the years in terms of management of these chronic conditions. Today, people with HIV can be treated as simply as one pill once per day to keep the HIV viral load undetectable. Hepatitis C infections can be cured with safe and effective oral medications. Keeping individual and community viral loads suppressed requires ongoing blood tests, medication review and educational support. Whereas a diagnosis of HIV infection inevitably lead to death 40 years ago, today, HIV positive people are living to old age. This important clinic helps oversee their medical care as they age.
The Positive Health Services Clinic sees approximately 6,000 patient visits every year. It is one of 56 specialty clinics at the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre.
