An Indigenous-Led Healthcare Solution in Vancouver, BC
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Urban Medical Outreach is an indigenous-led organization, founded by James Hiebert, whose mission is to demonstrate that solutions to our country's most challenging healthcare problems can come from aboriginal leadership sources.
Our organization has identified the opportunity to support ultra-high needs, at-risk residents living in the Downtown Vancouver core, who have been unsuccessful in accessing the current healthcare system but who can adhere to appropriate therapy if they are provided direct outreach to their place of living.
Urban Medical Outreach aims to become the national pioneer for partnership-based outreach in servicing the at-risk population of our nation’s urban cores.
The Principle That Guides Us at Urban Medical Outreach
Our guiding principle is evidence-based patient care with an urgent need to reduce the risk of overdose for our patient cohort by any means necessary.
To that end, Urban Medical Outreach employs an outreach team led by an independent nurse practitioner with talent and expertise in dealing with at-risk individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds (specifically those of First Nations descent), who suffer from co-occurring addiction, infection, severe mental health, multiple chronic conditions, and social isolation.
Over the last two years, our team has been a consistent presence in many of the single resident occupancy (SRO) units in the Downtown Eastside and even the streets and back alleys when necessary in order to identify and provide care to this specific cohort of citizens.
A Different Approach for Better Results
The nurse practitioner operates with a team-based care mentality, coordinating with case workers, pharmacy partners, a clinical pharmacist advisor, licensed practical nurses, as well as physicians and psychiatrists from other clinics around the Vancouver area.
In identifying potential partners from all disciplines, we prioritize proven consistency, reliability, and professionalism with a preference towards those who have been recognized by independent bodies for their excellence and innovations in the at-risk healthcare space.
Our results thus far have been a documented 80% improvement in patient medication adherence and self-reported improvement in the quality of life in 92% of the cases which we manage. We aim to be a reliable healthcare provider for people in need in Downtown Eastside.
