Complex Care

The Complex Care Clinic is a specialized clinic that offers coordinated care for children and youth with medical complexities.

The clinic treats children with:

• Genetic syndromes
• Neurologic impairments
• Multiple subspecialists involved in their care each year
• Frequent hospitalizations
• High-intensity care needs

Services we provide include:

• Connecting patients with a primary care provider
• Supporting transitions from inpatient to outpatient care at BC Children's Hospital
• Coordinating appointments (such as tests and follow-ups) to minimize travel
• Providing a single point of contact for patients at BC Children's Hospital
• Health-care system navigation

Please note: we do not provide care for patients with cancer, transplants, or psychiatric and behavioural challenges.

Appointment details

If you require a taxi voucher to attend an appointment, please contact the booking clerk for the clinic you are visiting. The request will be forwarded to the social worker assigned to that clinic to coordinate arrangements.

If you have a time sensitive need but do not need to go to the Emergency Department, please review the following:

• Contact us to book an appointment with the next available provider
• If this timeline is not soon enough to meet your needs, we suggest contacting:
  • Other specialists involved in your care. Many of the other specialty, surgical, and allied health teams at BC Children’s Hospital and around the province also have nurses, physicians, or others who can help you with relevant issues.
  • Your family doctor or general pediatrician. If you are contacting them, we suggest bringing copies of any notes that you have, making clear exactly what the time sensitive need is, and when it needs to be dealt with (e.g. when your child will run out of medications)
  • A walk-in clinic or an urgent and primary care centre (UPCC). We suggest bringing as much documentation with you as you can and clarifying how the team you see can help you with your time-sensitive need
  • An online walk-in clinic, such as Telus Health MyCare or Rocket Doctor
  • Call 8-1-1 for free health-care advice. This service is available 24/7, including translation options

Referral information

To access our services, patients need a referral from a health-care provider. We ask providers to consult with the patient's community pediatrician to ensure they are in agreement with the referral.

Providers can find more details on the Complex Care Referral page.

Contact us

We provide care from Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Address:
Room K1-125, Area 7
Ambulatory Care Building
BC Children's Hospital
4480 Oak Street
Vancouver, BC
V6H 3V4 

Phone: 236-989-7997 
Toll-free: 1-888-300-3088 - ask to speak to the Complex Care Clinic 
Fax: 604-642-8828 
Email: BCCHComplexCare@cw.bc.ca

Patients and families can call or email if they have questions. We will let you know if there isn’t a nurse or physician available, as well as an expected timeline to hear back from us.

For questions regarding medical equipment or supplies, please reach out to your community Nursing Support Services coordinator or At Home Program.

For prescription renewals:

• If the prescription was provided by a physician or nurse practitioner outside of the Complex Care team, please contact the prescribing provider directly. Your pharmacy can also send a refill request to the provider on your behalf
• If the prescription was provided by the Complex Care team, you can ask your pharmacist to fax the complex care clinic a refill request, you can email the team, or book an appointment with a provider.  We ask that you send all prescription requests 2 weeks in advance of the anticipated end date

Additional resources

Families or caregivers of children/youth with health complexities may find the following websites and resources helpful: 

• Family Support Institute (FSI): A non-profit organization that supports families who have a family member with a disability. You can view FSI webinars developed in partnership with BC Children's Hospital
• Rare Disease Foundation: Offers a network for families who are dealing with rare diseases. You can find Living Without a Diagnosis here. The foundation wrote this road map and navigation tool for parents and caregivers of children with health and/or learning concerns and a suspected genetic health condition or syndrome, but no set diagnosis
• BC Complex Kids Society: A non-profit organization for families and caregivers with children who are part of the At Home Program
• NeuroJourney by Courageous Parent Network: Practical and medical information and insights from parents and clinicians about common social and emotional experiences for people whose child has severe neurological impairment (SNI)
• Child Development & Rehabilitation InfoSource: Development, rehabilitation and support information and resources for children and youth with neurodiversity and/or disability in British Columbia
• UBC Library resources on complex care