Upper Extremity Outpatient Clinic

Location

Outpatient Department, St. Paul’s Hospital

If you need help locating us, please ask one of our hospital volunteers to direct you.

This clinic is offered by appointment only. We will contact you with the date and time of your appointment.

About this clinic

The clinic provides consultation and follow-up appointments for patients with finger, hand, wrist, elbow, arm or shoulder injuries, whether they are acute or chronic conditions.

Referrals to the clinic come from emergency departments, family doctors or other specialists. Referrals also come from physicians of hospitalized patients and from WorkSafeBC. Referrals are sent to the appropriate service, for instance, plastic or orthopedic surgery. They are sent according to how urgent the injury is.

The physician will assess your condition and recommend diagnostics or treatments to help you. The doctor works with a team that includes nurses, hand therapists and an orthopedic technician.

For instance, you may be assessed by the physician, then referred to a hand therapist for physiotherapy or occupational therapy for custom splinting, or for education on hand exercises. Or you may go to an orthopedic technician if you need a cast either applied or removed, or if you need special braces, splints or wound care.

Because St. Paul's Hospital is a teaching hospital, surgical fellows or medical students may be present in these clinics.

This clinic provides X-rays for patients if they are needed. Staff will give directions to an X-ray station within the department.

Orthopedics (Upper Extremity) Outpatient Clinic

Patients come to this clinic for treatment of injuries anywhere from the fingertips to the shoulder.

Hand & Plastics Clinic

The clinic provides plastic-surgery consultation and follow-up appointments for patients with acute injuries anywhere from the fingertips to the wrist. It also treats patients with deformities or other conditions related to a chronic disease.

Referrals to the clinic come from Emergency Departments, from family doctors or from other specialists.

Advances in treatments for hand and plastics surgery are thanks to medical research.

While participating in research is a decision you should make for yourself together with your care team, there is much activity in this field. So please ask us about our research programs if you’re interested.

By taking part in research, you can help us all learn more about hand and plastics surgery.

Remember, it’s totally up to you to be involved in research.

The following clinical trials are currently enrolling volunteers. Please ask your care team for more information or contact the research team listed on each study or trial. For other information about research at Providence Health Care, please visit Providence Research.

Health care providers (specialists and family doctors) can refer the following patients to the clinic:

• Patients from Urgent Care clinics
• Patients from the Emergency Department
• Admitted patients
• WorkSafeBC claimants