Dr. Uri Burstyn
Arbutus West Veterinary Clinic
West 16th Avenue (corner of MacDonald)
Vancouver, BC V6K 3C5
604-736-6701
Dr. Burstyn is exactly the sort of obsessive geek that I want researching and caring for my tiny troublemaker. He's the owner of the clinic -- the other vets are apparently hit and miss as he's slowly building up a reliable team over the years -- and is clearly dedicated to doing whatever it takes to make the animals he meets happy and healthy again.
He took my concerns seriously, and my description of behavioural changes as absolute truth that was up to us to investigate. He answered all of my questions, and took the time to explain the whys, hows, and whats of what he was doing, even teaching me how to look at the x-rays so I could see what he saw. When nothing was obviously wrong, he went consulted other exotics-specializing colleagues to come up with theories we could test.
Dr. Burstyn works with the local shelters, and will find ways to work with people on limited incomes (students, seniors, un- or under-employed) to provide the necessary care. If you bring cats or dogs to him, he's a huge proponent for pet insurance as a way of controlling healthcare expenses and budgeting in preventative care; it makes me wish hedgehogs were covered by any of the pet insurance companies in Canada!
All that said, he's intense, and has better animal-skills than people-skills. He might overwhelm you with information (although he'll happily follow-up with you and re-explain as needed). He likes to sedate and take x-rays as a general diagnostic step, which I both understand and don't want. For hedgehog nutrition, he gives the advice popular on zoo forums, which contradicts what is popular on this forum.
My experience at the vet closest to me was, "Competent enough when I already know what's wrong and can give specific instructions," which isn't reassuring when working on mystery-problems. Instead, I commute from North Vancouver to Kitsilano so my hedgehog can be taken care of by someone as obsessive about him as I am.