Job Summary

Compensation Type Detail

The compensation type for this role is Mixed Sessional Contract and Fee-for-Service

Come work as a Community Treatment (Sp-ACT) Psychiatrist with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)

The Specialized Assertive Community Treatment (SpACT) Team provides intensive, interdisciplinary, community-based psychiatric care and psychosocial rehabilitation for individuals living with serious and persistent mental illness, often complicated by concurrent substance use disorders, complex medical needs, and significant involvement with the criminal justice system. Through a collaborative, person-centred, and outreach-based model, SpACT works in partnership with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), forensic psychiatric services, corrections, and other community partners to improve continuity of care, promote recovery and community stability.

As a Specialized Assertive Community Treatment (SpACT) Psychiatrist with Vancouver Coastal Health, you will:

- Provide outreach-based, longitudinal psychiatric care for a small caseload of highly complex clients living in the community who experience serious and persistent mental illness, concurrent substance use disorders, complex medical and psychosocial needs, and significant involvement with the criminal justice system often due to considerable violence risk.
- Work closely with an engaged interdisciplinary team, including nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, peer support workers and other allied health professionals.
- Collaborate closely with the Vancouver Police Department, forensic psychiatric services, correctional services, and other justice system partners to support coordinated treatment planning,



risk assessment, and continuity of psychiatric care across health and justice systems.
- Work collaboratively with inpatient and tertiary psychiatric services, housing providers, community clinics, pharmacies, and other community partners to support clients with complex care needs and transitions between services.
- Provide comprehensive psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing risk assessment, incorporating principles of community psychiatry, recovery-oriented care, and trauma-informed practice.
- Work alongside VPD officers in community outreach settings, including police-accompanied clinical assessments and interventions when indicated to support safe and effective care.

Qualifications

Education, Licensing, & Experience:

- Provisional OR unrestricted license to practice medicine from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC (CPSBC).
- Eligibility or active fellowship in psychiatry from the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC).
- Eligibility or current appointment as clinical faculty with University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine.
- Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) – Mandatory.

Knowledge & Abilities:

- Demonstrated experience working with individuals living with serious and persistent mental illness,



often complicated by concurrent substance use disorders, complex medical needs, significant psychosocial challenges, and involvement with the criminal justice system. Understanding of community psychiatry, assertive outreach, mandated community psychiatric care, and recovery-oriented approaches to treatment.
- Ability to provide flexible, patient-centred psychiatric care in community and outreach settings, including complex clinical decision-making, risk assessment, and management of challenging psychiatric and behavioural presentations.
- Robust collaborative skills and an understanding of interdisciplinary and interagency team-based care, including shared decision-making, coordinated treatment planning, and effective navigation of health, housing, forensic, and justice systems.
- Familiarity with the intersection of mental illness and the criminal justice system, and the importance of balancing therapeutic engagement, patient autonomy, and public safety.

Opportunities & Professional Development:

- Opportunities for clinical teaching and supervision of psychiatry residents and concurrent disorders/addiction medicine fellows, including elective and longitudinal training experiences.
- Engagement in program evaluation, quality improvement initiatives, research, and other scholarly activities.
- Opportunities to contribute to the development and implementation of an innovative specialized ACT model, including program development, service innovation, and continuous improvement in the delivery of community-based psychiatric care for justice‑involved populations.
- Opportunities for inter

📌 Community Treatment (Vancouver)
🏢 Vancouver Coastal Health
📍 Vancouver