Vancouver Coastal Health is a regional health authority providing direct and contracted health services including primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary care, home and community care, mental health services, population and preventive health and addictions services in part of Greater Vancouver and the Coast Garibaldi area. VCH is one of five publicly funded regional healthcare authorities within the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Provincial Government of British Columbia, through the British Columbia Ministry of Health, sets province-wide goals, standards and performance agreements for health service delivery by the seven health authorities.
Service area
VCH serves the one in four of British Columbia's five-million population who live in a geographic area of 58,560 square kilometres including 12 municipalities, four regional districts and 14 Aboriginal communities. Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is geographically divided into three Health Service Delivery Areas which in turn are divided into 14 Local Health Areas :
1)Richmond 311 Richmond 2)Vancouver 321 Vancouver-City Centre 322 Vancouver-Centre North 323 Vancouver-Northeast 324 Vancouver-Westside 325 Vancouver-Midtown 326 Vancouver-South 3)North Shore - Coast Garibaldi 331 North Vancouver 332 West Vancouver-Bowen Island 333 Sunshine Coast 334 Powell River 335 Howe Sound 336 Bella Coola Valley 337 Central Coast The following Regional Districts are partially or entirely covered by VCHA.
Vancouver Coastal Health administers 13 hospitals and 3 diagnostic and treatment centers and 15 community health centers and more than 500 facilities provide a range of direct and contracted services including home and community care, mental health services, population and preventive health, addictions services and primary care. VCH is not responsible for all health care within Metro Vancouver. Other hospitals such as BC Children's Hospital, B.C. Women's Hospital & Health Centre, and agencies such as the BC Cancer Agency are operated by the Provincial Health Services Authority. Downtown Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital is operated by Providence Health Care. Community partners and non-governmental organizations also provide certain health care services either in collaboration or under contract.
Seven care facilities, including British Columbia's second-largest hospital, St. Paul's Hospital, are operated through agreement with Providence Health Care, a Roman Catholicfaith-based care provider. The CEO of Providence sits as a member of VCH's executive team. Through another affiliation agreement with the United Church of Canada, VCH also provides health services in Bella Bella and Bella Coola and the surrounding areas. VCH treats patients referred for specialized services from other health authorities throughout the province.
Research
Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute includes three of BC's largest academic and teaching health sciences centres—Vancouver General Hospital, UBC Hospital, and GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre—as well as many other hospitals and public health agencies across Vancouver Coastal Health. VCH Research Institute has over 1,500 principal investigators, staff, and trainees located in 350,000 square feet of dedicated research space at VGH, UBC Hospital and GF Strong. VCH Research Institute is one of Canada's top funded health science research centres with $98.6 million in total research funding in 2011/2012. VCHRI is the research body of Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and is academically affiliated with UBC Faculty of Medicine.
About
VCH provides 46% of all inpatient specialized care for the over 5 million people in British Columbia and operates:
