Our Clinic

To be seen at the VCH Movement Disorders Clinic, you will need to have had a referral from either your family doctor or another specialist. If you haven’t been seen for the past year, the Medical Services Plan requires that your family doctor re-refer you.

Patients can only be seen by a movement disorder neurologist at our Centre upon acquisition of a referral from their primary physician or general neurologist. Patients may learn about the clinic and services provided by attending educational meetings sponsored by Parkinson Society British Columbia (PSBC), from allied health professionals in the community or from friends and family.

They may also seek a referral if they have an interest in participating in research. Once we receive a new referral, your doctor will be contacted with an appointment time.

Please fax referrals and completed consultation request to 604-822-7866.

Our clinic may be booked from 6 months to a year in advance. If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, please give us as much notice as possible so that we may give your appointment to another patient.

Your appointment time is set aside especially for you. Failure to cancel within 2 working days or failure to keep a scheduled appointment may result in you being billed for the missed appointment. Please arrive 15 minutes early for your appointment. If you are late arriving for your appointment, it may be necessary to reschedule your visit for another date. When you arrive for your appointment, a receptionist will greet you. Please check-in and review your personal information with them. This will include your address, phone number, family physician, and your referring physician.

If you need to make a follow-up appointment, please book it on the day of your clinic visit to ensure that an appointment is available within the appropriate time frame.

Please remember that your consultation may take some time. Your first visit with the doctor will include a full medical history and a neurological and general physical examination. You may have the opportunity to see other team members at the visit including the nurse, physiotherapist, and social worker. While we do want to address all your pertinent problems, please remember that the focus of this clinic is your movement disorder and other problems of a more general nature may be more appropriately dealt with by your family doctor. As this is a teaching Centre, you may be seen first by a resident (a fully qualified physician who is doing further specialty training) or a fellow (a fully qualified specialist who is doing further sub-specialty training in movement disorders).

Take your medications as you normally do on the day of your appointment. Please bring all the medications you are currently taking, and if possible, a list of medications previously taken. You are encouraged to bring family members to your visit. They may provide us with unique information about your symptoms.

Patients need a referral from their GP or general neurologist to attend the clinic and for subsequent follow-up visits, depending on the length of time between visits. Consultation reports are sent to the patient’s GP and referring neurologist and other physicians involved in their care after each visit.

If you experience challenges with medications or symptom management that your GP cannot manage, you can contact the VCH Movement Disorder Clinic Nursing Team by phone at 604-822-0392 or by email at movementdisordernurse@vch.ca.

The nurse will perform a phone assessment and may arrange necessary follow-up. The nurse will discuss your care with a neurologist to determine a plan. Your symptoms may be managed remotely or you may be brought into the clinic.