PHC Med Staff

The Council for Excellence is a sub-committee of the Medical Advisory Committee. Its purpose is to report on physician quality and performance enhancement, and each month a Department presents on their quality initiatives.  support the quality improvement of medical care and medical organization at Providence Health Care.  Click here for Terms of Reference

The Council for Excellence meetings are held the third Wednesday of each month except July and August. Articles and information coming from the meetings as well as articles that are for general interest will be available in this section.

The Mission of the Infection Prevention and Control Team is to be dedicated to the prevention and control of health care acquired infections in a supportive working environment. The practices of the Infection Prevention and Control Team will be based on sound scientific principles. Infection control services will be provided to PHC with structure and authority in collaboration with local, regional and provincial partners.

Definition of Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC)

• Interventions practiced in healthcare facilities to prevent and control the transmission and acquisition of infectious agents by patients and healthcare workers [e.g., proper hand hygiene, safe work practices, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)].
• Control measures are based on how an infectious agent is transmitted, and include education and implementation of standard, contact, droplet, and airborne precautions.
• Infections acquired in the hospital are referred to as “nosocomial infections,” with onset of symptoms >72 hours from admission. Community-acquired infections are those diagnosed on admission or within the first 72 hours following admission. These infections may have been acquired in the community, or potentially in other settings such as residential care facilities.
• The Infection Prevention and Control service is an integral part of any healthcare facility’s internal quality improvement process. At PHC specifically, IPAC is committed to improving overall safety for our patients, residents, physicians, staff and visitors.
• Surveillance of nosocomial infections is critical to the prevention and control of hospital-based transmission of infectious agents. Surveillance data are used to:
  • Determine the burden of specific infectious diseases in the institution.
  • Monitor trends in nosocomial transmission, and provide a means of determining when intervention is required.
  • Detect and manage infectious diseases outbreaks.

Infection Prevention and Control Team

• The Infection Prevention and Control Team is multidisciplinary in nature, consisting of Infection Control Practitioners, a Medical Director, Infection Control Physicians and Medical Microbiologists, and a Healthcare Epidemiologist.
• The Infection Prevention and Control Team has close links with the microbiology and virology laboratories at PHC.
• The program works closely with local, regional, provincial and federal counterpart agencies and implements evidence-based practices in accordance with accepted standards and guidelines.
• Specifically, PHC IPAC has a close relationship with Vancouver Coastal Health Public Health, with whom we collaborate for the management of outbreaks, reportable communicable diseases, and emerging infectious diseases.