As 2024 closes, I reflect with pride on the progress Island Health care teams made this year and look ahead to 2025 with great humility, knowing there is significant work still to be done. We have learned and achieved so much, and we recognize we need to do more to improve health outcomes and better meet the care needs of patients, residents, and clients across our region.
At Island Health, partnerships are crucial. I am thankful for our dedicated care teams collaborating with Indigenous communities, agencies, family physicians, and volunteers, supported by local governments and foundations. These collaborations have been essential for our successes over the past year.
Access to primary care has improved over the last year in partnership with local physicians, nurse practitioners, divisions of family practice, and First Nations. By working together, strengthening care teams and creating innovative team-based approaches, we expanded access to primary care for patients and families. This year, a new primary care clinic opened in Campbell River, and an after-hours primary care clinic opened on the Saanich Peninsula. Island Health's Urgent and Primary Care Centres continue seeing more patients each year, with approximately 9,600 visits monthly. Innovations such as nurse-led appointments at South Island UPCCs have enabled more people to receive the care they need in a timely manner.
Island Health is working to improve the capacity of our emergency departments and hospitals by increasing at-home care and community-based services to help reduce unnecessary hospital visits. Home support hours have increased by nearly 12% year-over-year, and home care services from health-care professionals have risen by over 6%. We've also expanded community service options, such as respiratory therapy, to provide more support at home and minimize the need for hospital care.
With an aging population, the demand for surgery and diagnostics continues to increase. We performed over 69,700 surgeries this year, up from 67,300 last year, yet we know many patients are still waiting too long for their procedures. MRI exams rose from over 53,600 in 2023 to 56,600 in 2024, while CT scans increased from 161,400 to nearly 166,000. Royal Jubilee Hospital will introduce the da Vinci Surgical Robotics System in 2025, improving surgical precision and recovery times thanks to donations from the community through the incredible efforts of Victoria Hospitals Foundation.
At Island Health, we acknowledge Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination have a significant negative impact on Indigenous Peoples within our health-care system. The harms experienced by Indigenous people are unacceptable and have led to health inequities. Since 2019, we have grown the Indigenous liaison nurse roster from five to 27 nurses across 10 sites B次元官网网址� an 80% increase B次元官网网址� as one way to start to address these inequities and improve patient care and outcomes.
We have enhanced mental health and substance use services, including opening a new Western Communities Hub to provide community-based care, same-day counselling, and referrals. We also added drug-checking services in Port Hardy, and six new detox beds will open at North Island Hospital in 2025 in response to the toxic drug crisis.
We are building for the future with new health facilities underway, including long-term care homes in Campbell River, Lantzville, and Colwood. Construction is progressing on the new Cowichan District Hospital, set to open in 2027. A new primary care centre in Ucluelet will open next year, offering primary care, mental health services, and community health support. We appreciate the support of the regional hospital districts in this work.
As we head into 2025, Vancouver Island and the surrounding coastal communities we serve face challenges from an aging population and increased health-care demand. To address them, we are committed to finding innovative solutions, prioritizing enhanced access to care, reducing emergency room wait times, providing timely seniors' services, and forging stronger partnerships with family physicians. And we will focus on improving safety and experiences for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples by tackling Indigenous-specific racism.
We remain focused on growing and supporting our incredible care teams, the lifeblood of health care. We will invest in their development, provide safe and modern tools and environments, and celebrate them every day for the amazing work they do on behalf of the people we serve.
Caring for patients is why I started working in health care many years ago as a registered nurse and continue this work today as Island Health's board chair. Caring for others drives every member of the Island Health family, who together are dedicated to delivering Island Health's vision of providing excellent health and care for everyone, everywhere, every time.
Leah Hollins is the board chair with Island Health.
