Gastroenterology Referral
We provide care for patients with diseases and conditions of the digestive tract including the stomach and intestines.
The Gastroenterology Clinic is only accepting urgent referrals.
Patients with non-urgent issues, including constipation and/or abdominal pain without additional GI red flags (see below), are not eligible for referral. This allows us to prioritize specialist clinical resources for patients with urgent GI concerns.
Referral overview
Urgent cases
GI red flags
Patients must have one or more of the symptoms below, plus abdominal pain or constipation, to be eligible for referral.
Abdominal pain red flags:
- Involuntary weight loss
- Slowed linear growth or delayed puberty
- Difficulty swallowing/dysphagia
- Significant vomiting (bilious, protracted)
- Pain away from the umbilicus
- Nocturnal waking
- Blood in stool or GI blood loss
- Severe diarrhea (including nocturnal)
- Unexplained fever
- Joint pain or swelling
- Family history of Crohn’s disease or colitis
- Hepatosplenomegaly
- Perianal abnormalities or abnormal blood markers including anemia, increased CRP, increased tissue transglutaminase, or elevated fecal calprotectin
Constipation red flags:
- Bilious emesis
- Bloody diarrhea
- Poor feeding/weight gain/weight loss
- Anal stenosis
- Lumbosacral abnormality
- Tight/empty rectum
- Perianal abscess/fistula
- Toe walking
- Loss of bladder continence
Urgent or acute referral support
As well as making a referral, you can discuss urgent concerns 24/7 with the BC Children’s Hospital GI physician on-call.
You can contact them through the switchboard:
1-888-300-3088 or 604-875-2345
This service is applicable for the following patients:
- Attending an emergency department and when acute management needs to be discussed
- In-patients
- Patients who may need transport to a higher level of care
Non-urgent supports
The eCASE platform supports clinicians who require specialist consultation. eCASE is meant for clinician and specialist use only. Learn more about the eCASE platform.
Clinicians who require specialist consultation can submit patient details and clinical background. A GI specialist will provide a written response within approximately seven days. In most cases, this approach results in improved clinical outcomes and significantly reduces delays in care.
If you are not registered on eCASE, contact ecase@providencehealth.bc.ca.
Referral steps
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Submit a referral
All new patients require a referral. The Gl clinic does not have a standard referral form.
For general referrals (not Complex Feeding and Nutrition), write your own referral letter and fax it to us at 604-875-3244. Please include relevant investigations and growth curves. Specify why the referral is urgent.
Tell us if you prefer that the patient be seen via videoconference (particularly for remote or outlying communities) or in an outreach clinic (currently available in Prince George, Nanaimo, Victoria and Kelowna). We cannot honour all requests.
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Assessment of referral
We will triage the referral and send a cover letter back to the referring office. Pleaseconsider this a receipt of referral. Unless specified, you need take no further action. Our booking secretary will contact the family directly with the appointment, usually one month in advance.
If there is a change in clinical status or new information, send an update so that we can review whether it changes the original triaging status
G-tube referral
Referrals for G-tubes (gastrostomy tubes) should go to general surgery (G-tube referral form, PDF) or interventional radiology. A referral to GI may be appropriate if a family or doctor is requesting a review regarding the necessity of the G-tube.
Celiac referral
- Patients who have two readings of tTG > 10 ULN (spaced by 1 month) meet non-biopsy diagnosis criteria for celiac disease with an accuracy of > 95% . Our dietitians will review referred patients and teach them about gluten-free diets
- Patients with tTG > 2 ULN and < 10 ULN should still go on to have upper endoscopy and biopsies (after consultation). It is important that these patients remain on a gluten-containing diet
- Follow patients with tTG readings < 2 ULN with serial readings. They should not implement a gluten-free diet. Readings at this level are non-specific and we may not accept them for review
Referral form
G-tube Referral Form
142 KB
Contact information
Fax: 604-875-3244
Complex feeding queries
- Contact: Debby Martins, program coordinator
- Email: cfns@cw.bc.ca
- Phone: 604-875-2345, ext. 5886.