The Prince George Regional
Hospital (PGRH) is a 219 bed community hospital which provides care for the
city of Prince
George
(80,000) and surrounding area ( about 200,000 total).
There is a 10 bed ICU/CCU and a neonatal ICU and the hospital is the regional
centre for hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
Given its location and distance from any other major centre it is the regional
trauma, critical care, pediatric, psychiatric, and high risk obstetric centre.
There are about 150 physicians on staff. Family physicians play an important
role in the hospital as much of the work done by the specialists is consulting
only. The hospital has a family practice teaching program(12
residents) which is part of the University of British Columbia Department of Family
Practice and there
are surgical, anesthesiology, medical, and obstetrical residents from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. A $50 million expansion and
redevelopment project for the hospital has started to end in 2004.
Diagnostic facilities
include a state of the art spiral CT scanner (Siemens Volume Zoom Multidetector CT), digital angiography and fluoroscopy rooms,
state of the art ultrasound, GE Nuclear medicine cameras, bone densitometry,
Integrated Digital PACS system, picture archiving and communication with
physician offices, and teleradiology.
There is a permanent Siemens 1.5 Tesla MRI.
There is an endoscopy suite that includes bronchoscopy ,
colonoscopy, gastroscopy, and ERCP capability. There
are many clinics including a MS clinic, cancer care clinic, dialysis and
nephrology clinic, home dialysis, enterostomal
therapy, and a detox assessment and treatment unit.
Most physicians are
self-employed and medical incorporation is allowed in British Columbia. The majority of work is fee for
service with most services paid for by either the Medical Services Plan which
is the government health insurance, the Workman's Compensation Board for work
related injuries, or ICBC the government no-fault auto insurance plan. Some
work is non-government insured for which direct billing of the patient is
allowed.
A new private surgical
clinic has just opened in Prince George (December 2003) providing some
opportunities for private surgical practice.
The Northern
Interior Regional Health Board is the administrative body for the region.
Last revised: December 2003