BC Drug and Poison Information Centre

Description

The BC Drug and Poison Information Centre DPIC was established in 1975 through the cooperative efforts of the Hospital Programs Branch of the BC Ministry of Health and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia UBC It is located at St Pauls Hospital in Vancouver and is staffed with pharmacists nurses and physicians who have specific expertise in the provision of drug and poison information services

The original mandate of the Centre called for the development of centralized services to assist health professionals throughout BC in providing optimal levels of drug therapy and poison management Considerable progress has been made in this respect through expansion of DPIC programs over the ensuing years Notably the Centre has assumed provision of poison information services to the BC public a population of approximately 44 million

Since 2002 DPIC has been affiliated with the BC Centre for Disease Control which is an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority PHSA and continues its affiliation with UBC We are a member of the Canadian Association of Poison Control Centres CAPCC and the American Association of Poison Control Centres AAPCC


Vision Statement
The Vancouver Community Network strives to be an inclusive multicultural communitybased organization which ensures the free accessible electronic creation and exchange of the broadest range of information experience ideas and wisdom

Mission Statement
The Vancouver Community Network owns operates and promotes a free publicly accessible noncommercial community computer utility in the Lower Mainland of BC which provides a public space on the Internet

Goals
To encourage the development of a wide range of electronic community information and communications resources

To encourage the broadest possible participation of community and nonprofit organizations in making their information available on the CommunityNet

To work with community and nonprofit organizations to make VCN a community building tool

To support individuals and organizations in building and maintaining public space on the Internet internationally

To work with other BC and Canadian Community Networks such as Telecommunities Canada to support Canadian community computer networks

To educate and encourage the public in the use of the Internet

To work toward the widest possible public access to the Internet government and other information through Community Networks other nonprofit organizations such as libraries and other public access sites

To expand the multicultural and inclusive nature of the Vancouver CommunityNet

To expand and strengthen the membership and user base of VCN

To build sustainability through ongoing funding a strong and effective board and staff and operational and financial accountability