One-stop boutique shop

Through tall picture windows, the 25,000-square-foot facility provides a spectacular view of downtown Vancouver and the Coast Mountains.  The building’s interior, an artful mix of natural stone and wood, is awash in warm colours and natural lighting, evoking a homey, lodge-like environment.

But appearances can be deceiving.  Behind the bright orange doors are high-definition laparoscopic towers, low-radiation X-ray equipment and a range of other state-of-the-art medical tools. This is False Creek Healthcare Centre — a world-class facility, all-inclusive health-care centre and one-stop boutique hospital all rolled into one.

“We are the first fully vertically integrated private hospital in Canada,” says CEO Anna Stylianides. Founded in 1997 as a private surgical facility, False Creek has since expanded its services to include family practice, urgent care, specialist health programs, advanced diagnostics and pathology. “The difference is what I call seamless delivery without the patient having to leave our facility. We really are able to take care of everything from primary care and specialist consultations to the surgical intervention.”

The facility’s unique design is just one highlight of what Stylianides calls False Creek’s “patient-centric” philosophy. “We actually treat each patient like we would a guest at a hotel,” she says. “They enjoy the kind of customer service-oriented treatment that they receive, and they feel very comfortable by coming and going depending on the services that they need.”

False Creek is the only private facility in Canada to hold accreditation from both the Canadian Health Service Accreditation (CCHSA) and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. With more than 80 physicians and surgeons, the centre prides itself on its hand-picked specialists who are readily available thanks to the centre’s proximity to two major hospitals. “We utilize them as specialists in the area of their fellowship training — that’s important,” says Stylianides. “In addition, we have a full cardiac assessment program just for cardiac health. Our patients can come in and say, ‘I want to have my heart checked out,’ and we have a full program that just concentrates on the heart, with all of the diagnostics, and they see a cardiologist.”

The centre is also at the forefront of women’s health, both on the primary care side and beyond. “For example if there’s a breast cancer concern, we have ultrasounds, we have the MRI, we are able to do biopsies… We are able to assist patients who require surgery and reconstruction — if it gets to that,” says Stylianides. “We have state-of-the-art technology available, both on the diagnostic imaging and surgical side, and the full complement of specialists to expedite excellent outcomes for the patient.”

False Creek’s cutting-edge technology includes — just to name a few — a 64-slice CT scanner, ECG, virtual colonography and the InstaTrak system for computer-assisted sinus surgery. The centre also boasts the first and only GE 3.0T MRI, which Stylianides calls the “HDTV of imaging,” in clinical use in Canada.

For patients concerned about prevention, there is False Creek’s Executive Health and Wellness program. The patient fasts the night before his or her appointment, then during a five-hour visit to the centre, undergoes blood work, a full history and physical with the doctor, a treadmill stress test and three different ultrasound checks, among other things. “It’s a very intensive work-up, which actually helps the patient to understand exactly what the areas of concern may be,” says Stylianides. Once the assessment is done, the patient will sit down with the doctor to go over any specific issues that may have arisen, from high cholesterol to heart issues. “We are proactive and preventative.”

In an emergency situation, the centre’s expedient approach can come through in a pinch. Stylianides recalls the case of a 42-year-old father who had been experiencing chest discomfort prior to a lengthy trip abroad. Despite being told that it could be indigestion, he called into False Creek with his concerns. The centre set up an emergency CCTA (a CT scan for the heart) the next day and had it read overnight by a cardiac radiologist. As it turned out, the patient had extremely elevated levels of heart disease — so elevated, in fact, that he then went through the hospital on an emergency basis for surgery. “With this scan we were able to pick it up and he did not go on his trip (that) Friday,” says Stylianides. “This was potentially a life-saving event for this patient.”

As the surgical procedures offered at False Creek are private, they are not covered by the Medical Services Plan of British Columbia. However, some extended health insurance plans may cover certain procedures.  False Creek also offers financial programs upon a patient’s request.

In 2003, president and medical director Dr. Mark Godley took False Creek’s model of personalized service nationwide with the opening of another facility in Winnipeg. The Maples Surgical Centre, which has a public/private partnership with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, does not have a primary care component but, like False Creek, it offers a variety of surgical procedures including general, cosmetic, lap-band and orthopaedic.

Situated on the Canada Line route and close to the SkyTrain line in the heart of Vancouver, the False Creek Healthcare Centre is easily accessible to patients who come from across Canada and worldwide. Its convenient location is just one more component of the centre’s patient-first approach to health care. “It’s very important when they come in that they are treated with the utmost of care and respect and they leave here understanding what their problems are and what their treatment plan needs to be. We can then deliver all the treatment that they need should they wish to continue,” says Stylianides. “We are very solution- and results-orientated, and our patients are the centre of our universe.” •

Photos Courtesy of False Creek Healthcare Centre