Renal News - Fall 2018

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Renal News
Fall 2018

In Memoriam: Dr. Colin White

With the passing of pediatric nephrologist Dr. Colin White this summer, the BC renal community has lost a much admired and fondly regarded leader, physician and clinical educator.

Winner of the 2017 Wilma Crocket Award and numerous other awards during his career, Colin died July 29, 2018. He was 50 years old.

Colin was born in Scotland and grew up in New Brunswick. He received his medical training in Ottawa and London, Ontario before being recruited to BC Children’s Hospital in 2000, where he became leader of the dialysis program. He was also a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at UBC and involved in multiple provincial renal network committees and initiatives.

Kidney Care Committee Update

Thanks to Dr. Monica Beaulieu
After almost nine years of chairing the provincial Kidney Care Committee (KCC), Dr. Monica Beaulieu stepped down from the role on October 1, 2018. We are pleased to announce Dr. Mike Bevilacqua is the incoming chair and that he will work closely with Monica during the transition. More in this section:

Thanks to Dr. Monica Beaulieu
Updated patient education materials

The newest release from the PROMIS team is expected in November. PROMIS 4.3 is focused on the “back end” of the system and will not provide any new modules for system users. It will, however, address numerous “bugs” users may have encountered with the system, and will also enable users to print pages from patient charts – a function not previously available.

In the spring of 2019 the PROMIS team will launch a major upgrade to PROMIS with migration of the entire PD Module from PROMIS Classic to the PROMIS 4 platform.

Palliative Care Committee Update

Quality metrics

The Palliative Care Committee’s (PCC) latest quality metrics report indicates good progress province-wide on symptom assessment using the modified ESAS assessment tool for patients with advanced kidney disease (GFR <15). More in this section:

Quality Metrics
End-of-life support for renal patients

PD Committee Update
PD Program Guidelines

In July, the PD Committee published new Best Practice Guidelines for PD Programs. The document is available on the BC Renal Agency website.

PD nursing procedures
New Baxter PD cycler

Hemodialysis Committee Update
TB screening

The HD Committee received its first report on compliance with its new TB Screening guideline. The guideline calls for all new dialysis patients to be screened for TB within one week of starting chronic dialysis.

More in this section:

TB screening
New HD guidelines

Pharmacy & Formulary

The BC Renal Agency has updated its nutritional supplement policy. Developed by the Pharmacy and Formulary Committee and the BC Renal Dietitians Group, the newly updated policy was launched on the Renal Agency's website in July.

Kidney-friendly cooking videos

St. Paul’s Hospital renal dietitians have created a series of step-by-step cooking videos showing kidney-friendly recipe ideas for renal patients. The recipes used in the videos are designed to be quick and easy and use ingredients commonly found in most kitchens.

Profiling BC catheter care

Northern Health renal nurse Dierdra Goodacre has been invited to present at the Renal Research Institute’s 21^st International Conference on Dialysis in New Orleans in January 2019.

Exercise during dialysis

A research team in Prince George has completed a pilot project looking at the feasibility of implementing exercise with stationary bikes for patients undergoing hemodialysis. More in this section:

Exercise during dialysis
BC renal research presentations

BC renal research presentations

The work of several BC Renal network researchers is being presented at a couple of major conferences this fall.

In Montreal, Victoria nephrologist Dr. Gaylene Hargrove made a poster presentation at the International Congress on Palliative Care on ‘Mobilizing Culture Change for Quality Palliative Care in BC Patients with CKD.’

Kidney Foundation

Financial burden of kidney disease

The significant financial burden faced by people with kidney disease in Canada is the focus of a recent report released by the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Association of Nephrology Social Workers.

Based on a survey of 1,200 people on dialysis from across Canada, the KFOC report details the extent and impact of financial costs related to kidney failure.

Transplant Games

The ninth Canadian Transplant Games were held in Vancouver this summer. The event attracted almost 200 athletes, including recipients and donors, from across the country. British Columbia was represented by 44 athletes who won a total of 110 medals, placing BC second to Ontario for the most medals received at the games.

Events

BC Kidney Days

The annual BC Kidney Days conference takes place November 1-2 at the JW Marriott Parq Hotel in Vancouver. The theme for BCKD 2018 is Personalized Kidney Care.

CKD e-Learning Webinar for GPs

February 2019
Tentantive Topic: Electrolyte disturbances

General practitioners are invited to participate in an e-Learning webinar about providing care for end-stage CKD patients.

Read More

Quality Forum 2019
The Quality Forum is an annual event that brings together hundreds of people interested in improving the quality of health care in BC.

Profiles in Kidney Care

Dr. James Lan

New on the Web

View the latest documents, guidelines and protocols on the BCPRA website! Did you know? We are also on YouTube!