RESEARCH has shown that people in the South Asian community are twice as likely to have cardiac disease, four times as likely to have diabetes, and likely to have a heart attack 10 years before people in other populations.
 
Local family physicians observed common health challenges within their South Asian patient populations, which they believed could be addressed through a culturally tailored health clinic. The Division of Family Practice Physicians worked in partnership with Fraser Health to determine a solution to this challenge in the community and from their discussions the South Asian Health Centre was created.
 
Owned and operated by the Surrey North Delta Division of Family Practice, the centre will use a multi-disciplinary approach that research has shown is most effective in improving health outcomes for South Asian patients. All staff at the South Asian Health Centre will speak one or more South Asian languages, to best serve the needs of the community.
 
Initially, the South Asian Health Centre will be staffed by one full-time Nurse Practitioner, a diabetes nurse and dietician.
 
Community members without a primary care provider will be able to self-refer to the clinic to access a Nurse Practitioner for their primary care needs. Physicians will be able to refer their diabetic patients to the clinic for enhanced diabetic education and support. Five South Asian family physicians will offer group medical visits for their patients using the diabetes services, and there might be opportunities for GPs to work in the clinic space.
 
In the second phase, rotating multi-disciplinary clinics and complimentary community based health services will be added.
 
The South Asian Health Centre is a collaborative effort between the Surrey / North Delta Division of Family Practice and Fraser Health and is expected to open November 2013.