Health Minister Chester Gillan announced today that Dr. Huy Nguyen recently joined the Provincial Geriatric Program as an additional half-time Consultant Geriatrician.
“The geriatric program offers a specialty service that requires advanced knowledge in geriatric care and provides full consultative assessments and educational services to seniors and their care providers,” said Minister Gillan. “The physician increase will help improve access to this important service and further meet the growing needs of the senior population on PEI.”
The program provides care for the frail elderly with complex health problems and offers individualized geriatric assessment in homes, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other community settings. Program staff respond to referrals from physicians who request specialized assessment of their clients.
“The addition of Dr. Nguyen should enable us to respond more quickly to referral requests and work towards increasing educational support and consultation services,” said Dr. Tim Stultz, Consultant Geriatrician. “Dr. Nguyen’s training in Geriatric Medicine will also bring valuable expertise and knowledge to help further enhance the program,” he added.
The program addresses concerns of the frail elderly experiencing difficulties with memory, depression, mobility, physical frailty, medications and handling finances, for example. Staff members of the program work in partnership with other health care providers such as family doctors, therapists, social workers and mental health and home-care professionals. Through this collaborative approach, the team strives to improve the quality of life of the frail elderly.
The program was started in 1998 by the provincial government in consultation with the Provincial Geriatrician Program Advisory Committee. It is an Island-wide program based out of Summerside with satellite offices in Charlottetown, West Prince and Kings regions.