Health

From a social determinants of health perspective, health means far more than just being healthy. It means you have ready access to emergency and non-emergency health care. You are able to get preventative care as a routine part of your life and you have access to life-saving treatment when needed.

Barriers

• After-hours emergencies don’t have reliable transportation
• No ambulance service
• Challenging to find full-time doctors
• Cannot access medical clinic without ID
• The Clinic is by appointment only, except for emergencies
• The Clinic is not open to those who are not clinic patients 
• Discharge from off-island hospital could leave you without clothing, money, transportation, or a place to stay
• One semi-retired dentist
• Transportation, money, and time can be prohibitive to see specialists off-island
• Limited access to different forms of care on-island, massage, chiropractic, physio, etc.
• No assisted living spaces

Hornby Island Community Vision

The community defines health as inclusive of physical, psychological, emotional, sexual and spiritual well-being, and not merely the absence of disease.

To assure life-long well-being we have high-quality, community-based health care.¹

Denman Island

There is one doctor currently working on Denman. With a population of 1,391 as of 2021 this puts the island over the recommended 800 patients per rural doctor.²

81.1% of the people in the Comox Valley Rural Health Profile have a GP. For Denman this would be 1131.35 people of the 1391 residents.³

Hornby Island

There are currently two doctors working half-time on Hornby plus one rural care nurse. With a population of 1225 as of 2021, this means 1225 patients for one full-time doctor or roughly 612 patients per caregiver if the rural nurse is included in this ratio. According to the Ministry of Health, a rural physician is recommended to have 800 patients.²

81.1% of the people in the Comox Valley Rural Health Profile have a GP. For Hornby this would be 992 people of the 1225 residents.³

Denman Island

Denman Island has a mix of on-island and visiting alternative care services.

• Acupressure
• Acupuncture
• Bio-Energy Healing
• Chiropractics
• Foot care nurse
• Massage Therapy
• Nutrition
• Physiotherapy
• Qi Gong
• Somatic Experiencing

Hornby Island

Hornby Island has a mix of on-island and visiting alternative care services. The Hornby Denman Healthcare Society has a facility on-island for visiting practitioners including: a foot care nurse, a massage therapist, and a physiotherapist.

• Acupressure
• Acupuncture
• Better at Home Program
• Bio-Energy Healing
• Chiropractics
• Home Assist Program
• Massage Therapy
• Nutrition
• Physiotherapy
• Seniors Day Program
• Somatic Experiencing

Denman Island

Acute care services are provided off-island at the North Island Hospital in Courtenay. This is roughly a 1 hour journey away, including 1 ferry between Denman and Vancouver Islands, and, if transported by emergency transport, 2 separate vehicles with 1 transfer. Outside of the ferry schedule this trip could include transportation via helicopter or water taxi. The ferries are not required to run for emergency transportation outside of their regular schedule.

Hornby Island

Acute care services are provided off-island at the North Island Hospital in Courtenay. This is roughly a 2 hour journey away, including 2 ferries, and, if transported by emergency transport, 3 separate vehicles with 2 transfers. Outside of the ferry schedule, this trip could include transportation via helicopter or water taxi. The ferries are not required to run for emergency transportation outside of their regular schedule.

Method of Transportation to Clinic for Urgent Patients⁴

Method of Transportation to Hospital⁴