SLP and Assessment Coordinator
BC Children's Hospital, Sunny Hill Health Centre, Canada
Lucy Ruthven, M.Sc., is a Speech Language Pathologist working in the roles of clinical SLP as well as Assessment Coordinator within the BC Autism Assessment Network (BCAAN) and Complex Developmental Behavioral Conditions (CDBC) programs at Sunny Hill Health Centre at BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver. She has over 30 years of clinical experience providing services to children and youth to age19 with a range of communication needs, including those with medical, physical, and neurodevelopmental conditions. Throughout her career, she has worked in multi-disciplinary team settings striving to understand the many factors which contribute to a child’s presentation and diagnoses. Although the challenges and barriers to care have varied, her vision has been consistent: to obtain best possible outcomes for the child and family based on clinical findings and on current research in child development and best practices. In her role as Assessment Coordinator, she reviews and evaluates BCAAN referrals, working in close coordination with triage colleagues in CDBC, with triage physicians for their developmental and mental health expertise, and with referring physicians from the community. Her role includes establishing clinical assessment pathways from triage to completion of multidisciplinary assessment, providing consultation and support for complex cases. Given the increasing numbers of referrals to BCAAN and variable presentations in severity and additional conditions such as mental health, it has become necessary to develop initiatives to more accurately identify appropriateness of referral and to promote more timely assessments which also support an efficient use of resources for those in most need of our services. Lucy is incredibly well-supported by a dedicated, talented team at Sunny Hill!