For Immediate Emergency Medical Care: Always Dial 911

You are welcome to call the clinic at 250-935-6718 to see if the doctor or the nurse is on call. Each are on call one week per month. The pager # is 250-830-9370

The Cortes Community Health Association, in cooperation with our doctor operates the Cortes Health Centre at 683 Beasley Road for residents & visitors. The Health Centre can be reached at 250-935-6718 for medical appointments and you can reach the Pharmacy at 250-935-0222. Our pharmacist is very helpful and informative. For any inqueries related directly to medication, you can call her at 1-866-313-2275.

The clinic is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 - 12:00 & 13:00 - 16:00
(except for holidays)

There is a physio therapist at the clinic once per week. There is lab service 2 times per week (an appointment is required), there are mental health and addiction services available 2 times per month and a psychiatrist once a week.

The Public Health Nurse visits the Health Centre the 4th Wednesday of the month from 10:15 - 12:00 (except for holidays & summers). Services iclude immunizations (call ahead for specific vaccines), hearing tests, vision testing, baby check-ups, flu shots & home visits by appointment for those unable to get out. Call 250-830-2200

Vancouver Island Health Authority Home & Community Services: 250-850-2150
On Cortes, Home Care Nursing is available on a part time basis to enhance the capabilities of clients and their families to care for themselves and each other. The range of services provided by a registered nurse includes:
• Health teaching to help clients administer their own care such as injections, catheter care and dressings
• Wound/ostomy care
• Assistance to people recovering from heart attack or heart surgery
• Medication management
• Palliative care, such as pain management and supportive counseling to terminally ill people
• Coordinating and referring to community supports
• Care for the chronically ill

This service is provided to BC residents and there is no direct charge, though clients are responsible for any required supplies and equipment. Home Nursing Care is provided in consultation with your doctor, however the referral can be made by anyone.
Referrals and information are also available through this office for long term care assessment and facility placement and for Home Support services.
Home Support services provide care to clients at home who require assistance with personal care or activities of daily living. Care is provided by trained Community Health Workers. On Cortes, this service depends on the availability of workers employed by this program. There may be a charge for this program, depending on income, except for Palliative clients.

Our family nurse practitioner at the Cortes Health Centre is Anita Dotts. Nurse Practitioners are a relatively new health provider in B.C. The scope of practice for nurse practitioners is more than a registered nurse and less than a family physician. What this means is that a nurse practitioner has all the skills and perspectives of a registered nurse but additional abilities to diagnose, treat and manage ongoing common health issues for patients that come to the clinic. As a nurse practitioner, she can prescribe medications and order lab and diagnostic tests.

Family nurse practitioners are able to care for people from birth to death. It is very important in this role that nurse practitioners have a close, collaborative relationship with a family physicians as there will be situations when patients will be outside the scope of practice for a nurse practitioner to manage i.e. a person having a heart attack; managing women in labour are two examples. As a nurse practitioner, she brings 22 years of nursing experience and now additional skills that complement her ability to manage patients with chronic diseases. She feels most comfortable caring for seniors with complex health needs but will be learning more about children and families.