Complex care in Nanaimo usually starts with a discharge from Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH): an IV, a wound vac, a feeding tube, sometimes a trach. Salve's HCP-licensed clinical team covers Downtown Nanaimo and the Old City, North Nanaimo and Hammond Bay, Departure Bay and Brechin Hill and the rest of the city, with most procedures performed by a Registered Nurse and personal-care continuing alongside.
§IV therapy at home: IV antibiotics, IV hydration, PICC line dressing changes and flushes (with physician order), central line maintenance, using the client's hospital-issued or prescribed pump
§Tube feeding and PEG / G-tube management: feeding, site care, basic clog troubleshooting in collaboration with family; complex issues like tube replacement coordinated with the clinic or hospital
§Tracheostomy care: suctioning, airway maintenance, routine trach care alongside the respiratory therapist. We don't manage ventilator settings; that stays with the RT.
§Palliative nursing: pain and symptom management, comfort, family support (distinct from formal hospice, which runs under a separate BC framework)
§Oxygen, BiPAP and CPAP support, suctioning, compression therapy, mechanical-lift transfers
§
Who it's for
Families whose loved one is being discharged from hospital with a complex plan (wounds, tubes, infusions, equipment), or whose ongoing condition has grown beyond what personal care alone can hold. Often arranged in coordination with a hospital social worker and the family's medical team.
Hours and schedule
Frequency depends on the plan. Some clients need a daily skilled-nursing visit, some weekly, some on a flexible schedule that wraps around personal care. Caregiver-led shifts have a four-hour minimum; standalone RN visits (a short, specific clinical task: wound change, IV flush, injection) can be as short as one hour. Days, evenings, overnights, and around-the-clock multi-shift coverage all available.
§
Skilled nursing, without leaving the Island.
Complex care in Nanaimo means NRGH discharges and ongoing clinical needs handled where the client lives: IV therapy on the prescribed pump, wound care, catheter and ostomy management, tube feeding, injections, diabetic monitoring, all RN-performed by the Island team under the same BC HCP license as the mainland operation. Caregivers carry the daily routine alongside, and the documentation reaches the physicians and the family, wherever each of them is.
§
Complex care in Nanaimo: what families ask.
Is the full clinical list available in Nanaimo?
Yes: the complex-care capabilities are the same Island-side, RN-performed under the same license. If a specific case needs something we can't safely bring to a home, we say so on the first call, same as anywhere.
Who coordinates with the NRGH specialists?
We do, from the discharge summary and physician orders, with documentation after every clinical visit flowing back to whoever directs the plan. The family reads the same record.
Where in Nanaimo we deliver.
We see Nanaimo families in Downtown Nanaimo and the Old City, North Nanaimo and Hammond Bay, Departure Bay and Brechin Hill, South Nanaimo and Chase River, and Lantzville and Cedar.
What it costs, and how families pay for it (extended health, VAC, CSIL,
and more), is laid out in costs and coverage. The people behind the visits are here: meet our caregivers.
BCCPA-member agencyBC HCP-licensed (Health Care Professionals & Services)WorkSafeBC registeredICBC-certified Personal Care Assistance providerFully insured & bonded caregiversBLS-certified, First Aid trained15+ years caring for BC families since 2011
