Ultima Medical

Ultima Medical Services Inc. and Pacific Coastal Airlines have been doing business together for years, but it wasn't until recently that both organizations came together to strategically plan an approach in which together they could create a joint service model to attract new business.

Both organizations share much in common since they are both headquartered at Vancouver International Airport South Terminal and share many of the same business contacts given strong ties to the Greater Vancouver business community.

Pacific Coastal Airlines is a regional airline servicing the coastal & interior regions of British Columbia. Pacific Coastal operates out of fifteen bases and has a strong charter presence within the province. Ultima Medical Services is an Occupational Health Service Provider focused on providing an extensive range of Corporate Health and Disability Management services along with operating the Vancouver Airport Occupational Medical Clinic.

The objective of both organizations is to grow their individual market presence within the interior regions of British Columbia. Pacific Coastal has been servicing these areas for many years and has built a strong relationship with most of the major employers in these remote British Columbia locations. A majority of the large employers in BC's interior are forestry and mining organizations that employ many safety sensitive positions and experience many work-related injuries and therefore subsequent high rate WCB premiums.

Mike Carr, Vice President of Operations for Ultima Medical understands that "employers are continuously becoming more proactive with respect to handling their own disability management programs and understanding the costs associated with work-related injuries. Ultima's objective is to provide employers in remote areas, an opportunity to access expedited occupational medical expertise that otherwise wouldn't be available locally given their location."

The objective is to promote Ultima's Acute Medical Intervention Program (AMIP) and Clinical Quarterback Assessment (CQBA) programs to employers operating in the Interior Region who do not always have direct access to Occupational Medicine. Both services are directed at problem solving the employee's medical/psychological/workplace issues and expediting treatments/workplace modifications, with the end result of an expedited return to the workplace, significantly improved recovery rates, employee satisfaction and significant bottom line savings.

With the strategic relationship between Pacific Coastal Airlines and Ultima, the employer is able to arrange for the transportation and assessment of the worker in one fluid process, whereby it is not uncommon for the worker to fly to and from Vancouver in one day while having had an assessment by an Ultima Occupational Physician and the development of a treatment plan that incorporates return to work coordination as a part of the treatment process.

This service collaborative allows Ultima Medical to share its occupational medicine services to a greater scope of employers, while increasing the volume of traffic to Pacific Coastal Airlines and assisting in growing their established core business. Employers can readily access medical resources previously unavailable to them and their employees, enabling both parties to become more proactive in managing their business and disability management programs.