You’ve told us over coffee and through years of surveys that you want better ways to navigate the healthcare system and better access to knowledgeable healthcare providers no matter where you live. Now, a clearer route is starting to take shape.
In the Summer 2023 issue of The Spin, we shared “Rehab for Rehab,” highlighting the BC Rehabilitation & Recovery Strategy and the SCI Care Strategy. Together, they asked hundreds of people with SCI, families, providers, and advocates a simple question: What would make care and rehab really work?
Two priorities consistently rose to the top: patient navigation and real-time support for healthcare providers. Similarly, in the Rick Hansen Foundation-led SCI Care Strategy Survey, two-thirds of respondents said they would value a navigation survey, and improved knowledge among healthcare providers ranked just behind financial support.
Healthcare providers across BC are already doing incredible work, often under pressure and with limited resources. But challenges remain, creating opportunities to better support people with SCI as they chart their journey through complex care pathways.
For years, teams at Vancouver Coastal Health’s G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre and SCI BC have helped address these challenges informally. As G.F. Strong physiatrist Dr. Viet Vu explains, “In the past, we did our best to answer questions from people and physicians across the province, while supporting our patients.” Similarly, SCI BC’s InfoLine fields thousands of requests every year, with 11% of requests coming from healthcare professionals seeking resources. Over the past five years, housing and health-related requests have been the top two most common inquiries.
To help meet this need, the Spinal Cord Injury Navigation Service (SCI Nav) was created.
“Too many people living with spinal cord injury have had to navigate a complex health system largely on their own,” says Doramy Ehling, Chief Executive Officer at the Rick Hansen Foundation. “SCI Nav changes that and ensures that every person affected by SCI in British Columbia, no matter where they live, has access to the expert guidance and care they need.”
For years, teams at Vancouver Coastal Health’s G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre and SCI BC have helped address these challenges informally. As G.F. Strong physiatrist Dr. Viet Vu explains, “In the past, we did our best to answer questions from people and physicians across the province, while supporting our patients.” Similarly, SCI BC’s InfoLine fields thousands of requests every year, with 11% of requests coming from healthcare professionals seeking resources. Over the past five years, housing and health-related requests have been the top two most common inquiries.
To help meet this need, the Spinal Cord Injury Navigation Service (SCI Nav) was created.
“Too many people living with spinal cord injury have had to navigate a complex health system largely on their own,” says Doramy Ehling, Chief Executive Officer at the Rick Hansen Foundation. “SCI Nav changes that and ensures that every person affected by SCI in British Columbia, no matter where they live, has access to the expert guidance and care they need.”
Introducing SCI Nav
SCI Nav is a new province-wide service led by an experienced team at G.F. Strong. Think of it as a GPS for SCI care: a single point of contact to help you and your healthcare providers get the support you need, when you need it.
The service is starting as a three-year pilot project (June 2025–June 2028) that is led by a navigation coordinator who has a nursing background in SCI and a clinical consulting team based at G.F. Strong. The pilot project has been made possible through generous funding from the Rick Hansen Foundation, and support from key partners, including SCI BC and the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.
“I’ve heard from patients how difficult things can be once they leave the hospital or inpatient rehab. The transition back into the community can feel overwhelming, and many people end up trying to figure out complex medical issues, funding systems, and community resources mostly on their own,” says Rachel Hendry, SCI Nav nurse navigator. “I really believe SCI Nav has huge potential to help meet the needs of patients, their families and caregivers. It can take some of the pressure off by offering timely, specialized support when questions or challenges come up.”
SCI Nav first launched for healthcare providers in rural, remote, and First Nations communities in Fall 2025. The service expanded to healthcare providers across BC in Winter 2026, and in May 2026, SCI Nav opened to people with SCI and their families in BC and the Yukon.
You can think of SCI Nav as your first call when you need support—either as a person with SCI (or family member) trying to navigate the health system or as a healthcare provider seeking information or expert advice about a patient with SCI. The nurse navigator (Hendry) is the main point of contact, working with an interdisciplinary team at G.F. Strong that includes a physiatrist, nurse, occupational therapist (OT), physical therapist (PT), and social worker. The nurse navigator receives calls and emails, gathers information to share with the SCI Nav team, and coordinates next steps, aiming to respond to inquiries within 48 hours.
For people with SCI and their families, the service provides real-time, compassionate support from a knowledgeable healthcare professional as a complement to your existing care team. And no referral is required! Anyone seeking support, information, or guidance related to an SCI can contact the SCI Nav team.
For healthcare providers, SCI Nav provides free, peer-to-peer clinical support from experts at G.F. Strong. Providers get advice and targeted training and can even bring SCI Nav into a three-way call with their patient anywhere in BC and the Yukon.
How to Access SCI Nav
Email: SCINav@vch.ca
Phone: 672-965-1702
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 am–4 pm
Website: vch.ca/sci-nav
SCI Nav in Action
Early examples show how SCI Nav is already helping people with SCI.
In one case, a healthcare provider called SCI Nav during an appointment to confirm whether a treatment would interfere with the patient’s bowel and bladder care. “The GP would have had to refer them to me, and then the patient goes on my waitlist to be seen in clinic. Instead, the GP called SCI Nav and their concerns were forwarded to me. I called the GP back and discussed the bowel care issues. It can be that efficient and easy,” Vu explains. In another case, an SCI peer in a remote community received guidance on pressure injuries and was connected with a local OT with SCI expertise for a home visit, meaning no travel to Vancouver was required!
For Kelowna resident Anand Kannan, SCI Nav helped him get answers after months of uncertainty. Last fall, he suspected a UTI and started antibiotics, a routine that had worked for him over 17 years living with SCI. While symptoms initially improved, his incontinence quickly worsened. Over the following months, he visited the emergency room seven times, trying multiple antibiotics, including IV treatment. Tests came back negative, while new symptoms, such as increased spasticity, emerged. A urologist later admitted him to the hospital for several days.
A friend eventually pointed him to SCI Nav. “I reached out not knowing what information I would get,” says Kannan. “It was very quick. I was surprised. I first left a voicemail with Rachel [Hendry] and then she contacted me back the next day. She had the ability to pull up all my information from Interior Health. She took all that information to the group for their meetings… the next week she contacted me saying this is what they would like you to do.”
Following the SCI Nav team’s recommendation, Kannan’s GP ordered a spine MRI, which revealed a syrinx (a fluid-filled cavity within the spinal cord). With that information, Kannan was later able to see a local physiatrist, while his care team consulted with the SCI Nav team for additional guidance. “I’m really happy with [the timeline] to have all of this done that quickly with the right guidance,” says Kannan.
Thanks to SCI Nav, Kannan’s path to answers was a short one that didn’t require travel to Vancouver.
In its first three months, the SCI Nav service received approximately 50 calls from healthcare providers. “Early in the pilot, we’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback,” says Hendry. “A consistent theme has been our quick response time and the value of having direct access to SCI-specific expertise. We’ve heard from clinicians that the service has helped to prevent possible hospital visits related to autonomic dysreflexia and supported safer bowel and bladder retraining in the community.”
Here’s what some providers have said about SCI Nav:
- “Access to [SCI Nav] saved me and my program’s physiatrist hours of work.”
- “Within healthcare I find it very difficult to navigate policies and resources to find current, best practice support, especially for complex issues like SCI
management. This is an invaluable resource for hospital staff, as well as anyone else needing to support SCI care!” - “This service was MORE than extremely valuable. It was completely top notch.
Fast response time. Excellent communication and ability to connect by email and by phone. Excellent at supporting the patients and providing resources. We do not have a regular caseload of SCI patients and this support for such a complex population is so essential!”
You Can Now Self-Refer
SCI Nav is now open to people with SCI and their families.
SCI Nav is not a replacement for primary or emergency care. It’s also not for medication refills or chronic pain management. The team can provide consultations and SCI-specific guidance to help you and your healthcare provider chart the next step. Ongoing care and follow-up visits will still be managed by
your primary care provider.
No family doctor? You can still access SCI Nav. Vu explains, “If you don’t have a primary care doctor, we would ask you to go to an urgent care center, or whatever their local walk-in clinic looks like, in order to communicate with that clinician.”
Self-Refer Criteria
To self-refer, you or the family member with SCI you are calling on behalf of must meet the following:
- Must have a diagnosed SCI (diagnosed by a physician)
- Injury must be chronic (not newly diagnosed within past three months)
- Injury must have significant functional impact (e.g., bowel/bladder involvement and/or primary use of a wheelchair)
SCI Nav: Peers
We recommend adding SCI Nav as a contact in your phone. We have also created an SCI Nav wallet card you can carry with you! Contact your local SCI BC Peer Program Coordinator for a copy or download the wallet card online: sci-bc.ca/scinav-walletcard.
And for non-medical questions (housing, equipment, funding, and more) or if you are unsure whether or not you should contact SCI Nav, SCI BC’s InfoLine is here for you! If we don’t know the answer, our goal is to find out and respond within one working day. Contact the SCI BC InfoLine Monday to Friday from 9 am–5 pm by calling 1-800-689-2477 (toll-free), texting 778-247-2477, or emailing info@sci-bc.ca.
SCI Nav: Healthcare Providers
Rural and remote healthcare providers can connect with the SCI Nav team through the Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS) Quick Reply SCI Nav pathway. Connect with the nurse navigator by adding RTVS SCI Nav as a Zoom contact (scinav@rtvs-bc.ca). You can message
them in Zoom for an appointment.
For more information on RTVS, please visit: rccbc.ca/sci-nav.
SCI Nav is also building a provincial database of clinicians with experience working with individuals with SCI, including physicians, nurses, OTs, PTs, and other allied health professionals. This will allow the team to more easily connect patients and providers with knowledgeable professionals within their region when SCI-related questions or care needs arise.
Add yourself or your team to the provincial database: sci-bc.ca/scinav-database.
Help Keep SCI Nav in Your Community
SCI Nav is currently funded as a three year pilot. What happens after that will depend on the evidence showing that the service is making a meaningful impact on the SCI community.
A steering committee is tracking the usage and impact of SCI Nav, drawing on advice and guidance from the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute about what data and user feedback is most interesting and important. The team is also sharing early results at research conferences and looking to the rehabilitation community for feedback.
This is where you can help, too. If you use SCI Nav, take a few minutes to complete the post encounter survey. You can share the service with all of your care providers and also with your local elected officials to strengthen awareness of the service. Combined with the usage data, feedback from users will help guide the program in future.
Charting the Future of SCI Care
SCI Nav marks an important step toward a more connected, province-wide approach to SCI care—one that helps peers and providers find the right path, faster.
“Having this service that focuses solely on SCI province-wide is incredible. We hope SCI Nav will help increase capacity in expertise and access, particularly for rural and smaller centres, and improve coordination between acute, rehabilitation, and community care,” Hendry says. “Overall, SCI Nav is demonstrating that a coordinated, responsive, interdisciplinary navigation team can meaningfully strengthen SCI care across the province and therefore, hopefully improve confidence for providers and outcomes for patients.”
Since 1957, SCI BC has seen many shifts in how care is delivered across the province. But services like SCI Nav are helping connect the dots, especially for peers in rural communities. Here at The Spin, we’ll keep you updated on the future of SCI Nav and advancements in SCI care.
