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Amputee Multidisciplinary Program

In February 2005, Health Care Services introduced a pilot rehabilitation program to better serve the needs of amputee workers.

Description of services

The Amputee Multidisciplinary Program is a pilot program provided at one location, the Columbia Health Centre in Langley. The goals of this multidisciplinary program are to maximize the injured worker's functional recovery and to return the worker to productive employment.

The multidisciplinary team includes: Visiting Specialist Clinic (VSC) physiatrist, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and psychologists. The team will work closely with a community prosthetist to assist the injured worker in obtaining an appropriate prosthetic and/or orthotic device.

Core services include:

  • Physiotherapy and occupational therapy
  • Psychology treatment sessions (individual/group)
  • Education
  • Pain management
  • Mentor/support program
  • Diet counselling

The AMP consists of four treatment phases:

  • Phase One: Pre-prosthetic Management
  • Phase Two: Prosthetic Training
  • Phase Three: Functional Restoration
  • Phase Four: Workplace Re-integration

Following a screening assessment by the VSC physiatrist, an injured worker may enter at any of the four treatment phases.

The VSC physiatrist will be responsible for:

  1. Supervising the treatment care plan in consultation with the treatment team
  2. Ongoing assessment of stump and stump-care issues
  3. Prosthetic prescription
  4. Recommendations for medical interventions

Admission criteria

  1. The injured worker will require a screening assessment by the VSC physiatrist, and
  2. The injured worker has suffered an amputation as a result of a work injury:
    • Loss of three (3) fingers and one (1) thumb or more in the upper extremity, OR
    • Loss of five (5) toes or one hallux in the lower extremity

Length of service

Phase One - Pre-prosthetic Management: maximum of twenty (20) program days.

Phase Two - Prosthetic Training: maximum of twenty (20) program days. Subsequent extensions are available in blocks of ten (10) program days (Board officer approval required).

Phase Three - Functional Restoration: maximum of thirty (30) program days. Extensions are available in blocks of ten (10) program days and are subject to Board officer approval.

Phase Four - Workplace Re-integration: First treatment block consists of forty (40) program days. Subsequent blocks are twenty (20) program days each. All extensions will require Board officer approval.

Service locations

The Amputee Multidisciplinary Program is offered at Columbia Health Centre in Langley, B.C. Phone 604 514-9787.

Referral process

An injured worker is referred to the program by a WorkSafeBC officer:

  • Following a screening assessment by the VSC physiatrist, or
  • If the injured worker is currently under the care of a physiatrist at G.F. Strong

All referrals must be processed by registration representatives in Provider Referrals.