Referral to the Providence Breast Centre

If you are a family physician and would like to refer your patient to the Providence Breast Centre, we have modified our referral process. To attempt to reduce wait times for cancer care at Providence, we are adopting a principle of central intake and triage, with each referred patient being assigned to whichever surgeon can best accommodate their surgery in a timely fashion. There will no longer be a need to send referrals to individual surgeons’ offices, but rather the Providence Breast Centre will take care of your patient from diagnosis to survivorship.

For patients with a NEW breast complaint: Direct referral to Medical Imaging

• MSJ Breast Imaging Requisition
• The Radiologists will triage the requests and navigate the patient through the complete im-aging work-up, automatically arranging any additional investigations immediately required.
• Patients requiring biopsy (BI-RADS 4 and 5) will be referred directly from MSJ MI to the PBC to be seen in our clinic to be informed of their biopsy results.
• Patients who do not require biopsy or additional immediate imaging tests (BI-RADS 1, 2, or 3) will be discharged from MSJ MI and are asked to follow up their imaging results with the referring physician. The referring physician’s office will also be responsible for arranging any required 6-month or 12-month follow up imaging

For patients who have had breast imaging work up: Direct referral to Providence Breast Centre

• Patients who have had a complete breast imaging work up (at MSJ or any other imaging facility) can now be referred directly to PBC for a clinical opinion. This includes patients who have been diagnosed with a problem for which a surgical opinion is recommended, or patients who have had reassuring imaging, but for whom a clinical opinion is desired. These patients may be seen by a breast physician or surgeon depending on their breast concern.
• However, due to resource limitations, Providence Breast Centre will focus mainly on breast cancer care. We do not provide consultation at the Providence Breast Centre for the conditions listed below.
• Please fax a referral letter to the Providence Breast Centre at (604) 877-8506 as you would for a referral to a surgeon’s office, and include all relevant investigations. Please note these patients should have ALL investigations completed prior to the referral being made. Once we have received the referral and all the information, we will notify your office about your patient's appointment date and time within one week.

Conditions not accepted at Providence Breast Centre

Due to limited capacity, we DO NOT provide consultation at Providence Breast Centre for:

• Benign breast imaging with benign breast exam
• Breast pain
• To help counseling your patient with mastalgia, please see the resources below:
  ▸ Canadian Cancer Society - Breast Pain
  ▸ Breast360.org - Breast Pain
• Breastfeeding related issues
• Please contact the breastfeeding clinics at BC Women’s Hospital or St Paul’s Hospital:
  ▸ Breastfeeding Clinic at BC Women's Hospital
  ▸ Breastfeeding Clinic at St. Paul's Hospital
• Most breastfeeding related breast issues do NOT require surgery. Mastitis and small abscess can often be treated with antibiotics and image guided aspirations.
• Please see the resource below:
  ▸ Breast360.org - Problems During Breastfeeding
  
• Breast infection
• Second opinion of breast imaging abnormalities
• If your patient requires second opinion on breast imaging, those services are available by the radiologists at BC Women’s Hospital:
  ▸ Breast Health Program Referral - BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre
  
• If your patient has been recommended to proceed with image guided biopsy by radiology, please organize the biopsy at the facility recommended by radiologist – we do not have the capacity to expedite biopsies at other facilities.

If there is a concern, please contact the Providence Breast Centre at 604-877-8511.