When the first bike ride was organized in 2005, it was to raise money for a defibrillator (Life Pak Unit).
The Good Heart Ride was one of the last fundraisers and helped put the urgent care fund over the top.
When in 2006 it became clear that a clinic was needed, the Tour de Gabriola became the first fundraiser,
which provided the money to start the Gabriola Health Care Society.
Seven years later, the finish line is in sight. This year's tour looks forward to topping previous years
by including more Gabriolans -- hundreds have ridden and/or donated their time and money to make this dream
come true. This may be your last chance to say "I helped build the Clinic."
By adding a walk to this year's tour, there is another opportunity to be there at the finish.
-- A little history --
In the summer of 2005, Dr. Bob Henderson was quoted in the "Gabriola Sounder" island newspaper
that if Gabriola had
an ECG machine (Life Pak Unit) it would save lives. If we waited for the provincial government,
it would take years to get it.
In usual island style, Gabriolans started fundraising: hot dogs, buffalo burgers, parties and
concerts were all part of the campaign. Not to be outdone, island bike riders organized a bike ride,
which came to be called the Tour de Gabriola. The $3000 raised help put the Critical Care Equipment
Fund over the top. In November, the machine was delivered and it did save lives.
In the spring of 2006, Dr. Henderson reported that the province was not providing drugs, like the
clot-buster needed to prevent strokes analyzed by the defibrillator, because Gabriola did not have
a proper facility to receive and administer the drugs. One of the bike ride organizers formed a new
fund and called it Primary Care Gabriola, with the purpose of creating an emergency treatment facility
and clinic. Met with initial skepticism, the ride originally raised only $2200. But, Bruce Mason, a
feature writer of the Gabriola Sounder at the time, picked up the idea and promoted it. Fortunately, so
did VIHA, and the GHCS was born
(see www.ghcs.ca for more).
And the tour continues, having raised nearly $25,000. So, with the
groundbreaking of the new clinic on Saturday, June 4, 2011,
what better way to support primary health care and be a part of Gabriola history than riding in the
Tour or supporting a rider.
-- The Mission of the GHCS --
The Gabriola Health Care Society was formed in November 2006 as a response to a number of ongoing
concerns with respect to the provision of community centred quality health care to an ever increasing
population. Through numerous meetings with Vancouver Island Health Authority and Ministry of Health
officials and independent research, the reasons for our concerns were identified and clarified. It
was determined, that drugs and other supplies could only be available if an urgent treatment facility
was established. An urgent treatment facility was also a requirement in order to receive funding from
the Medical On-Call Availability Program (MOCAP). An urgent treatment facility cannot, however,
stand alone. Treatment rooms for family practice physicians also became a key component of the proposed
solutions. By April, 2007 enough funds were raised by the community to develop the interim facility at
Twin Beaches with four examination rooms and an equipped trauma care room. The interim facility opened
in July, 2007.
The interim clinic and emergency treatment room, now almost five years old, is a busy, well run
facility. Ongoing data collection shows that the majority of emergencies are successfully diagnosed
and treated locally, and that the number of patients continues to increase. It is, however, clear that
with the increased use of the emergency treatment room (indeed there have been examples of three
patients on site at one time) along with the welcome arrival of a new full-time family practice
physician, the current site and situation needs to be improved.
We believe that a permanent, community owned medical facility with an emergency treatment room
will provide a desirable long-term solution to the health care needs of the Gabriola population.
It is our belief that, in addition to emergency treatment, such a facility should truly serve the
broad range of health related issues such as mental health, substance abuse, home care and, of
increasing importance, the preventative programmes required to maintain the well being and good
health of Island residents.
Raising the capital (1.3 million dollars) to build the medical centre
would enable the Society to control the financial costs associated with the centre and to ensure that
Gabriola will be an attractive place for physicians to locate and practice medicine.