Psychiatrist – Provincial Assessment Centre (PAC)

BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services, PAC

Provincial Assessment Centre, 3rd Floor, 2721 Lougheed Highway, Coquitlam, BC

The Provincial Assessment Centre (PAC) offers multidisciplinary mental health services for people with a developmental disability, and a concurrent mental health concern or behaviour issue. PAC serves adults and youth aged 14 years and older and delivers comprehensive assessment and treatment services through an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals. The secure, 10‑bed inpatient facility is located in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Watch this video to learn about working with BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services!

https://www.bcmhsus.ca/

Psychiatrists and Psychologists with BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services (BCMHSUS), a program of the Provincial Health Services Authority, report dually to the BCMHSUS Chief Medical Officer and to the senior leadership team for their area of service(s). Medical professionals work collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams supporting specific services.

Key Responsibilities

The Psychiatrist provides specialized psychiatric services to patients admitted to the Provincial Assessment Centre (PAC). The Psychiatrist functions as a full and active member of the PAC multidisciplinary team under the direction of the Chief Medical Officer or delegate.

The role includes direct patient care, indirect patient care, and non‑patient care activities delivered within a provincially mandated assessment program. Services are provided in accordance with the Mental Health Act, professional standards of practice, contractual obligations, and PHSA policies and procedures.

The Psychiatrist is primarily based on-site at the PAC and is responsible for providing direct patient consultations and participating in regular patient rounds. The role requires active involvement in team meetings and close interdisciplinary collaboration to support comprehensive, patient-centred care. On-call responsibilities may be required in accordance with clinical service needs. In alignment with the academic mandate of the position, the Psychiatrist may also supervise and teach medical students, residents, or other learners, contributing to their clinical training and professional development.

Qualifications

• The successful candidate for this position will have passed or be eligible for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) examinations in psychiatry or comparable qualifications and the College of Physician and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC)
• Completed a recognized training program in Psychiatry
• The successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to work successfully in a multidisciplinary team environment and will demonstrate a trauma informed approach in their clinical work and professional relationships.

The successful candidate will also demonstrate a commitment to beginning and continuing their personal learning journey related to Indigenous-specific racism and dismantling systems of oppression, as well as addressing racism more broadly. Shows willingness to articulate and share their learning experiences to contribute to a culture of motivation and inspiration among peers.

As a strong asset for consideration, we are looking for our successful candidate to have: Foundational knowledge of the social, economic, and political realities of settler-colonialism and its impacts on Indigenous peoples and equity-deserving groups within social and health contexts. Understands the impact of social determinants of health-on-health outcomes. Shows a commitment to learning about and upholding legislative obligations and provincial commitments outlined in foundational documents such as the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan, Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study, the BC Human Rights Code, Anti-Racism Data Act, and the Distinctions Based Approach.

Contact

For more information & to apply in confidence, please send your curriculum vitae along with a letter of interest to:

Heather Finn

Advisor, Talent Acquisition – Physician Recruitment

Email: heather.finn@phsa.ca

BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services (BCMHSUS), as part of the provincial mental health services continuum, provides a diverse range of specialized, "one-of-a-kind" tertiary mental health and substance use services to adults across the province. These include services located at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and six regional clinics, the Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health & Addiction, and Heartwood Centre for Women. In addition to delivering these clinical services, BCMHSUS provides provincial leadership for system-wide improvement through its work in: health promotion and illness prevention; knowledge exchange; and research and academic teaching.

PHSA and BCMHSUS are committed to anti-racism and equity in our hiring and employment practices. With learning and compassion, we are addressing existing inequities and barriers throughout our systems. PHSA is seeking to create a diverse workforce and to establish an inclusive and culturally safe environment. We invite applications and enquiries from all people, particularly those belonging to the historically, systemically, and/or persistently excluded groups identified under the B.C. Human Rights Code.

One of PHSA’s North Star priorities is to eradicate Indigenous-specific racism, which includes ongoing commitments to Indigenous recruitment and employee experience as well as dismantling barriers to health care employment at every level. We welcome Indigenous individuals to apply and/or contact the Sanya’k̓ula Team (Indigenous Recruitment & Employee Experience) for support at indigenous.employment@phsa.ca.

Indigenous-specific anti-racism initiatives are rooted in addressing the unique forms of discrimination, historical and ongoing injustices, and exclusion faced by Indigenous peoples. These initiatives align with an Indigenous rights-based approach, recognizing the inherent rights and title of BC First Nations and self-determination of all First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. PHSA is mandated to uphold legislative obligations and provincial commitments found in the foundational documents including the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan and Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study.