Prince Rupert screening program highlighted in Northern Health blog

A program created by
North Coast Gynecologist
Dr. Marcus Pienaar
is gaining attention across
British Columbia

A program being led by Prince Rupert Gynecologist Dr. Marius Pienaar is catching attention far beyond the North Coast, with much of the recent interest thanks to a review in the Northern Health blog last month.

Dr. Pienaar was recently awarded funding by the Specialist Services Committee to host a program that focuses on the prevention of cardiovascular disease for women.

The program screens women who have recently delivered at the hospital for CVD risks, with Dr. Pienaar developing a referral and follow up system to track and provide for at-risk women to receive testing of their cardio vascular risk at 6 months post-partum.

Key to the initiative is a software program developed to collect data during a women's pregnancy and uses that data to assess for cardiovascular risks. Basic measurements such as blood pressure and weight are recorded, and a panel of blood tests are performed, including blood lipids and glucose.

The data is then entered into the program to calculate a risk score for future cardiovascular disease. Women with elevated risk are then offered interventions, and their primary care provider is informed of this risk.

If a patient has one of six clinical conditions happen in pregnancy, she is flagged as high risk, and invited to attend the North Coast Maternal Health Clinic for further evaluation when the baby is 6 months old.

Dr. Pienaar’s clinic seeks to intervene by providing clinical care to at-risk women as well as offering smoking cessation resources, on-site dietitians and diabetes nurses among other resources.

Prince Rupert is home to a new health
program which is gaining attention
across the province

100% of post-partum patients who are screened and are identified as having increased risk are offered the post-partum health clinic visit.

"We have a golden opportunity to evaluate pregnant women with cardiovascular risk and this should not be missed." -- Prince Rupert Doctor Marius Pienaar on the ability to track health indicators through a new program on the North Coast.

Dr. Pienaar's program is the first to be put in place in British Columbia and the first rural clinic in Canada specifically created to evaluate cardio vascular risk in post partum patients.

His work to this point has already attracted the attention of other Health Authorities in the province, with plans in motion to follow the clinic model in other locations.

You can review the full article and learn more about the program here.

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