After many months of preparation and planning, the First Nations Telehealth Expansion Project (FNTEP) will begin deployment of new clinical telehealth equipment, starting with Coastal and Interior communities. The deployment of Telehealth equipment will provide community members living in remote regions the opportunity to access healthcare services remotely. When clinical telehealth is first introduced, communities will begin accessing a few high-priority services identified collaboratively through the FNTEP engagement process. As community members and health providers become comfortable using telehealth, the breadth of services accessed will expand over time.

Community members who would typically travel long distances to locations that include, Williams Lake, Bella Coola, and Vancouver, for medical appointments will now be able to access a variety of these services using the telehealth equipment installed in the Anahim Lake Nursing Station. In order to ensure the video quality of each telehealth session is in high-definition, the internet connectivity to the Nursing Station will be upgraded prior to introducing telehealth. 

One of the physicians who provides care to Anahim Lake on a sporadic basis will now be able to follow-up regularly with his clients from his office in Tatla Lake, through a partnership between FNHA and the A GP For Me initiative led by Doctors of BC.

Community members living with rheumatoid arthritis will be able to access care through the Mary Pack Arthritis Program via telehealth for medication reviews, follow-up on scans and testing, and in cases of urgent flare-ups.

The physician currently providing care to the community is based in Bella Bella and only able to travel to Klemtu 3-4 times a year. When telehealth is deployed, community members will have the option to follow-up with their physician more frequently – even when the weather is poor and the physician is unable to fly in.

Starting on a limited basis, community members who are good candidates for cognitive behavioural therapy will be able to access treatment through the North Shore Stress and Anxiety Clinic based in North Vancouver via telehealth

We will be installing equipment in the communities of Soda Creek and Dog Creek, as well as in the Three Corners main office in Williams Lake

Though the communities of Soda Creek and Dog Creek are within an hour’s drive of Williams Lake, it can be difficult for clients to arrange travel into town for appointments or for service providers to make visits on a regular basis.  When introduced, telehealth will provide community members the option of accessing some of their medical appointments remotely.  In addition to this, placing equipment in the Three Corners Main Office, allows the health providers (including a Nurse Practitioner) working with Three Corners Health will be better able to follow-up with their clients in community.

The Nenqayni Health and Wellness Centre, located just outside of Williams Lake, who have recently started offering virtual Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, will be able to extend this service to the Three Corners sites when the telehealth equipment is installed

Telehealth equipment already exists in the town of Bella Coola, meaning that if community members living at 4 mile wish to use telehealth they still need to drive in town.  By putting telehealth equipment in the Bella Coola Health Centre, we’ll be bringing services closer to Nuxalk community members.

For clients with renal problems, they will be able to use telehealth to discuss everything from lab results and general health with their nephrologist. Using the various digital scopes attached to the telehealth equipment, the physician can even conduct a physical examination of the patient. Patients and family members can be engaged in learning about kidney health and the in’s and out’s of dialysis when needed.

For clients with cardiac problems, they will be able to use telehealth to complete initial and ongoing assessments of heart health, participate in medication reviews, receive testing follow-up, and also engage in pre- and post-op teaching and care with providers

Instead of taking a float plane to Prince Rupert, or continuing further on to Prince George or Vancouver for medical appointments community members will be able to access some of these services by using the telehealth equipment that will be installed in the Hartley Bay Nursing Station

For children in the community diagnosed with early hearing loss, they will be able to follow-up more frequently with their Speech Language Pathologist as part of an early-intervention service being developed by the BC Early Hearing Program

In addition to the community-specific services described earlier, the FNHA is also developing a partnership with the Mary Pack Arthritis Program to expand their services through telehealth in many communities involved in Wave 1 of the FNTEP. Through telehealth, the Mary Pack program will be able to provide medication reviews, follow-up on scans and testing, and also provide advice in cases of urgent flare-ups.