Vicki Lee

Vicki Lee, MLIS

Clinical Librarian and Consumer Health Specialist
Supporting Navigators & Clients, province wide

A clinical librarian with a specialization in serving patients and families, Vicki Lee has worked in the health care system for thirty years. A master at discovering information needs and finding high quality information to meet those needs, Vicki makes sure that patients, families, and health care professionals have the best information available to make health care decisions.

Vicki has done extensive research in mapping patients’ information needs over the courses of their health care journey. As a determined detective with a clear understanding of what she’s looking for, Vicki is an expert at matching resources to needs. She has particular expertise in the areas of oncology, cardiology, pediatric developmental disabilities, and general medicine. She has been known to follow a patient into the operating room.

“The irony of working as a patient librarian who helps people understand their diagnoses and make informed decisions about their treatment options became apparent when I came down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a condition with no definitive diagnosis and therefore no cure. After spending seven years in bed in a dim, dark cave, I have managed to emerge due to expert research, a compassionate physician, lifestyle changes, mindfulness, a sense of humour, and sheer determination. I know what patients are going through. I have witnessed the power of information to change lives .”

A talented teacher, presenter, and coach Vicki provides outreach services to individuals, families, community organizations, and corporations by coaching and leading lectures and workshops in the following areas:

Navigating the health care system
Finding and evaluating health information
Managing your own health records
Being a family caregiver
Advance care planning
Death, grief, and survival

+ Testimonials

Craig & Lissa McCulloch
This very crucial form would not have been completed correctly...

We hired Kerry and Patient Pathways to advise us both on how to navigate the medical administration as well as to obtain the best care for our mother.

Kerry advised us on the information that should have been given to us by the hospital emergency team upon admittance to emergency, subsequently at hospice care as well as the palliative care wards that she was on. This information was never provided at any of these crucial steps along the path through the medical system. The MOST form was never discussed with us to determine the patient’s wishes even though she signed a Do Not Resuscitate Order in emergency. This very crucial form would not have been completed correctly without Kerry’s active intervention with the hospital administration and medical practitioner.

Kerry’s presence at our meeting with the hospital team was invaluable at showing that they had not done their due diligence and that they were totally unprepared to handle the ongoing care of our mother to the level to which she required or to meet her wishes.

Kerry educated us on the system, our options within the long term care field and has assisted in the ongoing navigation of the nursing home care services. She has acted as our representative during a period when we were out of the country. We have felt total trust in the care that Kerry has provided to our mother.

We have referred other friends to Kerry and Patient Pathways that are facing challenges with the medical/health care system for their family members.

Gina
I want to thank Connie Jorsvik for all of her...

I want to thank Connie Jorsvik for all of her thoughts, insight, and empathy she put into my healthcare. I am… grateful to have had her as the foundation of my journey. The medical system has been increasingly difficult for me to navigate and tolerate as I faced complex and long-term illness. I came to Connie with a very complicated health history and crisis situation that needed to be approached with discretion. I was looking for a medical professional who I could trust implicitly, who would listen to me and thoroughly evaluate my circumstance, and someone who could guide and support me in getting the healthcare I needed. Connie has demonstrated professionalism, integrity, and credibility in our one-to-one dealings as well as appointments she has attended with me. She has been steadfast in taking on the complexity and challenge of putting together the puzzles pieces of my case. She has not only guided and assisted me in managing the many overwhelming aspects of living with illness, from dealing with doctors and appointments to coping with confusing and frustrating symptoms to sorting out paperwork for insurance and medical records but she has also genuinely cared for me and my well-being, encouraged me to keep going when I felt like giving up, coached me through barriers and self-realizations that were holding me back, and most importantly she has inspired and empowered me to be my own best advocate. Finding Connie was an absolute turning point on a path that was feeling hopeless and impossible.

Ben
I am located in Arizona but have a dear friend...

I am located in Arizona but have a dear friend in Vancouver B.C. who suffered a stroke in February 2014. After several months in ICU and acute care she was transferred to a long term care facility where she lives with residents decades older than herself. A mutual friend in Vancouver went to visit her and contacted me with her concerns. She felt my friend was not receiving all the potential therapy she should have and explained to me how an Advocate could help. Enter Connie. Connie visited my friend and in a short time was able to make arrangements for her to receive therapy at GF Strong Rehabilitation Center in Vancouver – one of Canada’s best public care rehab facilities. The change has been nothing short of miraculous. For eight months my friend had been confined to the hospital where her surgery took place and where she suffered the stroke that left her partially paralyzed. But after two short months of therapy at GF Strong thanks to Advocate Connie her prognosis is such that within a short while she will regain the use of the paralyzed portions of her body and eventually have her independence back rather than spending her life in a hospital ward. Without an advocate this would never have been possible. And one day soon I will take my friend to dinner and afterwards dancing… Thanks to Connie.

Sean
My wife died suddenly while in hospital almost...

My wife died suddenly while in hospital almost two years ago. I was not happy with the explanations I received from the doctors. On advice from a lawyer, I contacted Connie Jorsvik, a private patient advocate and she did a very detailed, thorough review of my wife’s hospital records and found several major gaps in her care. She produced a lengthy and through Letter of Complaint for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC (CPSBC). I want to thank Ms. Jorsvik for the vast amount of work she did in preparing the letter of complaint. I was able to get the justice I wanted and maybe, it is my greatest hope, that others’ deaths will be prevented. Ms. Jorsvik was frequently my ear during that horrible time. Her professionalism and compassion were lights pulling me out of the tunnel. I can’t recommend her patient advocacy services highly enough.

Janice
I have been using the services of Patient...

I have been using the services of Patient Pathways for about a year. Connie provides a tremendous service for families in health crisis who are finding it difficult to navigate the health care system. She is readily available to talk to on a one on one basis and offers support to the individual and the family. I am extremely grateful for the service she has provided to me and my family.

Susan
Thank you for your help and your support. We...

Thank you for your help and your support. We found you when I was starting to feel hopeless. You have given me back some hope.

David S.
I live many provinces away and there is no local support for...

Over the last year, Patient Pathways has provided invaluable support to my 75-year-old stepfather, who is physically fit but suffering from Alzheimer’s. Our goal is to have him live at home, as independently as possible, for as long as possible. His navigator, Kerry Phillips, has drawn together many imaginative and effective resources—arranging in-home care; arranging and attending medical appointments; and arranging social activities—to help him not just survive but actually enjoy his daily life, all while keeping him safe. I live many provinces away and there is no local support for my step-father, so Patient Pathways has been a godsend.

Vicki Lee, MLIS

Clinical Librarian and Consumer Health Specialist Supporting Navigators & Clients, province wide

Clinical Librarian and Consumer Health Specialist
Supporting Navigators & Clients, province wide