Oak Tree Clinic Referrals

The Oak Tree Clinic at BC Women's Hospital is a leader in providing specialized clinical care to women, children and their families who live with HIV, reproductive infectious diseases and congenital infectious diseases.
We accept referrals to treat: 

  • Women and gender diverse individuals, children, and families living with HIV 
  • Patients whose pregnancies are impacted by reproductive infectious diseases such as cytomegalovirus 
  • Patients whose children are impacted by infect​ions during pregnancy  
We are unable to accept referrals from:
  • Inpatient pediatric congenital infectious disease consults (non-HIV): Doctors should contact BC Children’s Hospital switch board for the “pediatric infectious disease specialist on-call” for consultation during a hospital stay
    • Refer to Oak Tree Clinic for discharge planning and community follow-up as needed 
  • Inpatient pregnant individuals impacted by infectious diseases: Advice calls are available from Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. via the BC Women’s Hospital switch board. Please ask for the reproductive infectious diseases doctor on call 
  • Cisgender men living with HIV who have no prior history with, or family currently cared for by Oak Tree Clinic. Patients should be referred to an HIV clinic that offers male-specific supportive care 

​Referral overview

There are different referral processes for different types of care: 

  • Referrals for HIV care: We accept referrals from doctors, other healthcare professionals, community agencies, support workers, as well as from patients themselves 
  • Referrals for reproductive infectious diseases: We accept referrals from doctors, midwives, and community health nurses
  • Referrals for congenital infectious diseases: We accept referrals from community and hospital pediatricians 

​Referral steps 

1Assessment

Before sending a referral, please ensure you have the following information:

  • Referrals for HIV Care:  
    • Recent HIV PCR Viral Load and CD4 Count 
    • ​nPEP & PrEP: recent negative HIV screen, Cr/GFR, AST/ALT 
  • Referrals for reproductive infectious diseases:  
    • Infectious disease-specific testing 
    • Current antenatal records (if pregnant) 
    • Antenatal records from previous pregnancy 
    • Dating ultrasound (if pregnant) 
    • Recurrent infectious vaginitis: recent vaginal swab/culture results with proven bacterial vaginosis or vaginal candidiasis 
    • HCV treatment: HCV PCR & viral load, AST/ALT/Bilirubin, genotype (preferred but not essential) 
  • Referrals for congenital infectious diseases:
    • Infectious disease-specific testing 
    • Antenatal records, birth record, maternal serology (if available) 

2Complete a form/write your own referral

Ensure you complete the correct form as fully as you can. Please see our ‘Notes on urgency’ section below before making a referral. 

If you are a community nurse or doctor's office, please provide as much of the requested documentation as possible to assist with triage. See the boxes on the bottom half of the referral form for a list of the information we require for different referral types. 

If you are a community agency or support worker booking on behalf of a client, please fill out as much information as possible and let us know which physician's office, community nurse, or hospital we can obtain your client's medical history from. 

3Send the referral


Please print and fax the referral and all attached documentation to our confidential fax number. 

4Post referral

We triage all referrals as they come in. Appointment wait times depend on the urgency indicated on the form. We triage referrals based on clinical acuity, patient needs and social factors.  

If a patient’s condition changes, please submit an updated referral. To update or add to an existing referral, fax materials with a face sheet labelled “Referral Addendum.” 

For patients who are transferring HIV care within BC, please continue providing care until the initial Oak Tree Clinic intake appointment to ensure continuity and to avoid treatment gaps. 

5Appointment with a provider

We will contact patients or guardians listed on the referral form directly to book the appointment, unless otherwise specified. If a referral does not meet clinic criteria, we will fax a notice to the referring provider with follow-up recommendations, as appropriate.

Referral form 

​Notes on urgency 

We will see patients meeting the criteria below within 2 business days of receiving the referral for urgent care. Please elaborate in the consultation letter: 
  • Acute HIV Infection (including adults, children, and pregnant individuals)  
    • 4th gen EIA: Reactive, Immunoblot: Non-Reactive, HIV 1 NAT: RNA detected  
    • and/or <3 months since last HIV-negative result  
    • Signs/symptoms of seroconversion (e.g. fever, malaise, myalgia)  
    • Suspected opportunistic infection  
  • Any patient with <30-day supply of antiretroviral therapy  
  • Pregnant patients not on antiretroviral therapy / out of medication 
  • Patients in acute psychosocial crisis without another care provider (e.g. assault, risk to physical safety, child welfare concerns)  
  • Patients impacted by infections during pregnancy, depending on the current gestational age and diagnosis 
Patients who do not require an urgent appointment may be categorized in the referral as: ​
  • ASAP: Prompt follow-up required due to time sensitivity, current health condition, or social circumstances 
  • Routine: Patient is medically and socially stable; the referral should be made for standard follow-up and ongoing care 

​Contact information 

Please contact us for general clinic information, appointment booking, or referral status updates, as well as to connect with non-urgent clinical staff, including nurse practitioners, registered nurses, or pharmacists. 

Phone: 604-875-2212, extension 1 (front desk)
Fax: 604-875-3063​