The UBC Division of General Surgery has adopted a surgical systems redesign approach that builds on the concept of value-based healthcare (VBHC), as described by Michael Porter from Harvard Business School. This model reorganizes traditional specialty-based practices into small, agile, and multidisciplinary integrated practice units (IPUs) focusing on specific patient populations (e.g. breast oncology, gastric oncology).
This patient-centred organization, currently being piloted at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), enables the coordination of complex multidisciplinary inputs and measurement of the quality, costs, and value of surgical care. The IPUs pursue a holistic and population-specific agenda to optimize value in several dimensions of quality (BC Health Quality Matrix).
The VGH IPUs featured here are only the beginning. This work is gaining momentum, and we are excited to expand this model province-wide and to see the frontiers of surgical care to which our IPUs lead us.
Our Integrated Practice Units
ACUTE CARE SURGERY
The Acute Care Surgery Section aims to deliver timely, best-practice, value-based, and patient-centered care to all patients presenting or referred to our team.
IPU Leader: Dr. Philip Dawe, MD FRCSC | philip.dawe@vch.ca
EMERGENCY ONCOLOGY
IPU Leader: Dr. Heather Stuart, MD MSc FRCSC FACS | heather.stuart@vch.ca
TRAUMA
The Trauma Section, based at Vancouver General Hospital, is committed to supporting healthy lives throughout British Columbia by preventing and reducing the impact of injury through leadership in the provision of exceptional, integrated trauma care, innovative education, injury prevention initiatives and research.
IPU Leader: Dr. Philip Dawe, MD FRCSC | philip.dawe@vch.ca
For details about Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at Vancouver General Hospital, please click here.
ABDOMINAL WALL RECONSTRUCTION
The Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Unit is working towards improving the quality of care, wait times, and patient experience for an often neglected part of a patient’ surgical journey, especially as incisional hernia repairs are often the final part of a patient’s journey after completing successful index surgery.
IPU Leader: Dr. Jack Chiu, MD MSc HSED FRCSC | Jack.Chiu2@vch.ca
FOREGUT SURGERY
IPU Leader: Dr. Adam Meneghetti, MD MSc FRCSC | Adam.Meneghetti@vch.ca
LIVER TRANSPLANT
The Liver Transplant IPU is dedicated to providing high-value, patient-centered, and equitable services to all of British Columbia, from pre-transplant preparation to post-transplant care, in partnership with BC Transplant, Canadian Blood Services and the Provincial Health Services Authority.
IPU Leader: Dr. Stephanie Chartier-Plante, MD FRCSC | Stephanie.Chartier_Plante@vch.ca
For details about BC Transplant, please click here.
For details about Transplant Surgery at Vancouver General Hospital, please click here.
For details about Transplant Surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital, please click here.
HEPATIC ONCOLOGY
IPU Leader: Dr. Maja Segedi, MD MPH FRCSC | Maja.Segedi@vch.ca
PANCREATIC ONCOLOGY
The Pancreatic Oncology IPU focuses on improving surgical outcomes for pancreatic cancer care. The aim is to create a team where the patients can receive the best pancreas cancer care in the world right here in our backyard.
IPU Leader: Dr. Peter Kim, MD MSc FRCSC FACS | Peter.Kim@vch.ca
PANCREATIC TRANSPLANT
The Pancreatic Transplant IPU aim is to build a comprehensive pancreatic transplant registry in British Columbia and to continue providing our patients with the highest quality care.
IPU Leader: Dr. Michael Bleszynski, MD MSc FRCSC | michael.bleszynski@vch.ca
ADVANCED COLORECTAL AND PELVIC ONCOLOGY
IPU Leader: Dr. Andrew McFadden, MD FRCSC | andrew.mcfadden@vch.ca & Dr. Jason Park, Med FRCSC | jason.park1@vch.ca
BREAST ONCOLOGY
The Breast Oncology IPU is dedicated to improving the quality of care for women throughout their entire experience with breast cancer and is committed to advancing efforts to improve outcomes and quality of life for breast cancer patients in BC.
IPU Leader: Dr. Elizaveta Vasilyeva, MHSc, MD, FRCSC| elizaveta.vasilyeva2@vch.ca
For details about the Providence Breast Centre, please click here.
COLORECTAL ONCOLOGY
IPU Leader: Dr. Adam Meneghetti, MD MSc FRCSC | Adam.Meneghetti@vch.ca
CONNECTIVE TISSUE ONCOLOGY
IPU Leader: Dr. Andrea MacNeill, MD MSc | Andrea.MacNeill@vch.ca
ENDOCRINE AND HEMATOLOGIC ONCOLOGY
IPU Leader: Dr. Heather Stuart, MD MSc FRCSC FACS | heather.stuart@vch.ca
GASTRIC ONCOLOGY
IPU Leader: Dr. Trevor Hamilton, MD FRCSC | Trevor.Hamilton@vch.ca
SKIN ONCOLOGY
IPU Leader: Dr. Heather Stuart, MD MSc FRCSC FACS | heather.stuart@vch.ca
PERITONEAL MALIGNANCY
IPU Leader: Dr. Andrea MacNeill, MD MSc | Andrea.MacNeill@vch.ca & Dr. Trevor Hamilton, MD FRCSC | Trevor.Hamilton@vch.ca