Innovation can happen in many ways. A few examples I have been involved with:
- Port Alberni FP Clinic: we were losing FP Docs, and were unable to compete with other towns and cities. All our FP were in old style Solo Practices and we were competing with multi-practitioner, plug-and-play clinics. Our budget was precisely $ 0.00. In order to hire, we went to the City Council and they were both concerned and supportive. They offered free use of the old City Health Clinic building. We scrounged up office and clinic furniture and opened the doors. The clinic operated for about 5 years after I left.
- Port Alberni Internal Medicine Clinic: we were similarly losing our Internists in Port Alberni. There was nowhere to hire into. For this case, we worked with the Health Authority, who helped us renovate a portion of the office vacated by administration (the functions were centralized in Nanaimo) and turn it into clinic space. This allowed us to recruit. This clinic is still operating, but now outside of the Hospital.
- PQI: In BC, Physician Quality Improvement has become an institution, but in the world, the approach is unique and has proven very successful in a number of ways. Most systems operate from a top-down approach. PQI starts from a grass-roots movement and tries to engage with the Executive Suite. Still very much a work in progress. The expansion of PQI into Spread and Alumni work is also innovative. The current discussion of transitioning into Whole System Quality is ahead of most systems. In many ways, PQI is better known outside of BC than inside, and is recognized for it's accomplishments.
- Covid Patient Transport Pod: This one never got off the ground, but was cheap, easy and would have done a good job.
- The Covid OR Vestibule: this project made the evening news when Covid hit and we needed some good news. Not a new idea, but a new application. Whenever "dirty work" is done in the ORs, "Hoarding" is put in place and a negative pressure environment ensures the ORs are not contaminated. This principle was applied to "mopping up" Covid virus leaving the OR to prevent contamination of the corridors. The whiteboard picture below is the original pitch to Administration and Maintenance on the morning of May 14, 2020.
