The St. Paul’s Hospital inpatient HIV/AIDS ward (10-C) opened in February 1997 and expanded from 17 to 20 beds in March 2006. Approximately 400 patients are admitted to the ward annually, and approximately 70% of those admitted are active or previous injection drug users.
The medical diagnoses accounting for hospitalizations include HIV-related opportunistic infections, malignancies, injection-drug-use-related infections (e.g. cellulitis, endocarditis, osteomyelitis), complications of chronic liver disease (e.g. hepatitis B and C), and adverse effects related to antiretroviral therapy.
The ward provides a multidisciplinary service and has linkages with various other care facilities and support groups in the community. It also serves as a clinical site for students from the UBC HIV/AIDS nursing and inter-professional courses and has attracted trainees from across Canada at all levels of undergraduate and post-graduate training.
