The hiring of physician assistants to work at a Vancouver Island hospital is an important step toward improving health care delivery in the province, according to Canadian Association of Physician Assistants, BC Director, Lisa Stewart in Courtenay.
“PAs are thrilled that there are now PAs working coast to coast in all provinces, this is a pretty historic moment.”
Two physician assistants, Fred Bai and Eric Demers, have joined Saanich Peninsula Hospital and Stewart says health authorities around the province are beginning the process of recruiting PAs.
According to Stewart, “the next step is to allow each health authority to get their initial sites off the ground and have their first PA start. I know Island Health is very keen to start recruiting to additional sites on Vancouver Island. However I think they’re just going to need to be patient and wait for some of the other health authorities to get off the ground.”
She adds that Island Health is presently focused on adding more Physician Assistants the Peninsula Hospital site.
Stewart says PAs are in high demand across Canada and there are only five schools that offer the training and BC does not yet have one, so recruitment is “going to be a bit of a challenge until a school is established.”
There are approximately 1000 certified PAs practicing in Canada.
The Canadian Association of Physician Assistants website says the introduction of PAs into Canada began in the Canadian Armed Forces in the 1950’s and they were introduced into the public healthcare system in Manitoba in 1999.
Stewart says PA’s in BC are presently restricted to hospitals, but she hopes to see them allowed to work at doctors’ clinics in the future.
Physician Assistants are under the supervision of doctors and are educated in a two-year graduate program.
