Adult Metabolic Disease Clinic at Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Medical mask policy in effect during respiratory illness season

Masks are currently required in all patient care areas of hospitals, long-term care facilities and community health-care sites and clinics. Please do not enter these facilities if you have cold or flu-like symptoms, such as runny nose, sore throat, fever, cough, shortness of breath/trouble breathing, diarrhea or vomiting. Do not enter these facilities if you feel unwell, no matter how mild the symptoms.

Visitors to long-term care and seniors’ assisting living facilities need to wear a medical mask in common areas and when participating in indoor events in common areas.

Thank you for helping keep patients and staff healthy this season.

The Adult Metabolic Clinic at Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre helps people with metabolic disorders achieve optimum control of their condition and maximize their quality of life through assessment, treatment, monitoring, support and education.

How to access

Check eligibility

Our services are available to adults aged 18 and over living in British Columbia and Yukon with genetic disorders affecting metabolism.

We do not see patients for weight loss counselling or diabetes education.
Get a referral

A physician referral is required.
For physicians: when to refer

It may seem surprising, but over half of our patients were first diagnosed as adults with their congenital inborn error of metabolism. When a metabolic pathway is only partly not working, it may not cause obvious problems until toxic metabolic substrates have built up over time, or other conditions of aging worsen the deficiency.

Consider referring your patient to us for a diagnostic evaluation in these (not-exhaustive) situations in particular: unusual persistent lab findings, high lactates, hyperammonemia, low alkaline phosphatase, high homocysteine, hepatosplenomegaly, multi-organ dysfunction, recurrent rhabdomyolysis, ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, movement disorders, large fiber neuropathy, white matter disease, early onset dementia, strokes that cross vascular territories, basal ganglia calcifications, metabolic acidosis, or the combination of sensorineural hearing loss with diabetes.

If you are unsure whether to refer, feel free to reach out to us. After hours, for urgent questions, please call VGH switchboard at (604) 875-4111 and ask for the Adult Metabolic physician on call.

Monday: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Tuesday: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Wednesday: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Thursday: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Friday: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed

Closed on statutory holidays.

Parking, transportation and nearby services

Pay parking

We suggest you drop off your elderly family members before searching for parking.

Across from the main entrance of the Jim Pattison Pavilion is a multi-level parkade at the corner of 12th Ave. and Laurel St.
The Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre underground parking lot is located off Laurel St. between 12th and 10th Ave.
Laurel St. has limited street meter parking.
There is a wheelchair-accessible overpass from the VGH parkade at Level 4 and a crosswalk at Level 2.
Additional parking is available at City Square Shopping Centre adjacent to Banfield Pavilion.

Download parking rates for VCH facilities.

Free parking

You may find two-hour free parking between Oak and Granville streets (southwest of the hospital) and between West 12th and West 20th avenues. Read the signs before you park. Parking attendants survey the area regularly, and there are many blocks designated for residents only.

Public transportation

Nearby bus routes include 9, 17, and 99 B Line on West Broadway.
Canada Line access from Broadway-City Hall station located at West Broadway and Cambie St. (~1km walk or use aforementioned bus routes).

Plan your trip on the TransLink website.

Places to stay around Vancouver General Hospital

The CIBC Centre for Patients and Families at Vancouver General Hospital is a resource centre that helps you and your family make informed choices about your health before, during, and after your hospital stay. If you are visiting VGH, the Centre also maintains the Places to Stay Guide for VGH and G.F. Strong to list accommodation options in the area.

If you are looking for additional support, you can also visit the Travel Assistance Program website to learn about the financial assistance available.

Download the Places to Stay Guide

Food/Groceries near VGH

Cafeterias - The main hospital cafeteria is located on the 2nd floor of the Jim Pattison Pavilion (via the 3rd floor of the Leon Judah Blackmore Pavilion) at the end of the ICU hallway.
Cafés - Café Ami is located at the main entrance of the Jim Pattison Pavilion on the 1st floor, near the Information Centre and the gift shop. Zookaz and Starbucks are located in the Diamond Centre. Tim Hortons is located on Broadway across from the Park Inn.
Restaurants - Numerous restaurants offer a variety of food on Broadway.
Grocery store or food court - There is a Safeway and Kins Farm Market located in City Square Mall at Cambie and 12th Avenue. City Square Mall also has a food court.

Pharmacies nearby

There is a Shopper Drug Mart in the Diamond Health Care Centre. Vancouver General Hospital on 2730 Oak Street

There is a Shoppers Drug Mart on Broadway. The easiest way is down the hill from the emergency entrance, which leads to West 10 Avenue.

Banking

There are two ATMs in the hospital. One is located on the 1st floor of the Jim Pattison Pavilion near the gift shop. The second is located outside the main entrance to the Sassafras cafeteria on the 2nd floor of the Jim Pattison Pavilion.

The Adult Metabolic Disease Clinic team

The multidisciplinary Adult Metabolic Disease Clinic(AMDC) team includes staff with a wide variety of expertise.

The AMDC physicians are from diverse specialties, including internal medicine, neurology, medical biochemistry, medical genetics and biochemical genetics, and all of the physicians have particular interests and training in the field of inborn errors of metabolism.

The AMDC nurses provide clinical support to metabolic patients through clinical assessment and monitoring, patient education, organization of available services close to home, liaising with health care providers in community and acute care settings, community referrals and advocacy.

The AMDC dietitians provide clinical support to patients whose metabolic condition requires nutrition intervention, including diet education and metabolic and nutritional status assessment with individualized care planning. Patients who need counselling for more common disorders (such as diabetes, heart health or weight loss) will be referred by the metabolic team to community nutrition resources based on diagnosis and/or current health status and symptoms.

The AMDC social worker provides patient advocacy and support services to individuals at the AMDC to identify and address financial, social and emotional concerns that are barriers to optimum metabolic control and quality of life.

The AMDC genetic counsellor educates patients about the advantages and limitations of genetic testing, obtains their informed consent for testing, helps them understand the different types of results that can be found, and reviews implications for family members when a genetic disorder has been diagnosed.

Our clerical team organizes appointments and coordinates with other services in the hospital that a patient might see all in the same visit.

Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)

Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) offers specialized health-care services to residents in Vancouver and across the province through regional programs. We provide a full range of basic and highly specialized emergency health-care and trauma services to British Columbia.