Hospital Amenities & Services

A basic inpatient medical or surgical room is a shared room between three or four different patients and is no cost for patients with BC Medical Services Plan coverage. The specific amenities included in a basic room does vary for each hospital. The number of patients per room and amenities available for specialty services like maternity care vary by site.

While there will be a privacy curtain between patients, should you desire more privacy, our Preferred Accommodation Program gives you the option of staying in a private or semi-private room, based on availability.

If requested by you, our Preferred Accommodation Program (private or semi-private room) does come at a daily charge but your extended health insurance may cover all or the majority of the cost. Any revenue from this program goes to support the operations of the unit where you stay and receive care. To find out the details of your coverage for this benefit, please contact your insurance provider.

TV rental services are available right at the bedside, provided by HealthHub Patient Engagement Solutions. Patients or their loved ones can access TV services by visiting www.ConnectMyBed.ca which is available 24/7 to also help answer questions related to local channel guides and request customer service assistance.

Note: Rental services are only provided at Royal Inland and Penticton Regional hospitals. All other hospitals are provided with complimentary TV services by the hospital.

There will be many people involved in your care. Everyone who works for Interior Health will wear photo identification and will be able to answer your questions about what they do. Don’t hesitate to ask to see their identification if it is not displayed.

If you need to leave your unit or floor for any reason, please let your nurse know where you are going, and approximately how long you will be gone.

While every effort is made to ensure a safe and secure environment, it’s always better to take precautions with your valuables. Don’t bring expensive or irreplaceable items, large sums of money, credit cards or jewellery with you during your stay. If you need to keep cash with you, only keep a small amount at any one time.

Interior Health cannot be held responsible for any lost or stolen items.

Medications you receive in hospital may look different from what you take at home. If you have any questions about your medications, ask your health-care provider or ask to speak with a pharmacist. Bring a complete list of your current medications, including non-prescription drugs and herbal products, when you check into the hospital.

Interior Health facilities regularly hold fire drills. If a fire alarm goes off during your stay, remain in your room. Staff are trained to provide instructions to patients in the event of a fire drill or emergency.

All Interior Health facilities are smoke-free inside and outside. Patients who smoke are welcome to ask for information about smoking cessation programs and products available to them while in hospital.

Please do not wear perfume, cologne, or aftershave while you are a patient our facilities. If you can, remind visitors before they come to see you to refrain from wearing these products or bringing flowers with strong scents. Some people are highly allergic to fragrance ingredients and can suffer severe reactions.

Consider designating a family member or close friend as your contact while you are in the hospital. Although nurses can tell callers your general condition, they are not able to give details about your health over the phone, in order to protect your privacy. Let your designated contact know the hospital’s main switchboard telephone number.

Depending on your unit or room, you may be able to take telephone calls.

IH recognizes spiritual health as an integral part of whole person care that includes all parts of a person: the spiritual, physical, mental, social and emotional.

Attending to spiritual health is vital to overall well-being and should be considered in a person’s health care plan.

Spiritual health care needs may arise in response to an illness, injury or loss. Spiritual health distress may be experienced while:

• Awaiting diagnosis, or experiencing a major health setback
• Making a life changing healthcare decision
• Wishing for a meaningful ritual 
• Struggling with a medical intervention not in line with your religious, spiritual and cultural beliefs and practices

In these types of situations, many individuals find themselves looking for ways to find or restore meaning, ways to process and express themselves, or ways to connect to their faith or beliefs.

Professional spiritual health is offered at our two tertiary hospitals, Kelowna General and Royal Inland in Kamloops. Spiritual health professionals are members of the health-care team, clinically trained and credentialed to provide comprehensive spiritual care and emotional counsel to patients, families and health-care staff irrespective of religious or spiritual affiliation. 

Spiritual health care supports people’s abilities to manage their needs, and is based on the individual’s beliefs, values, traditions, and cultural practices. Some of the services offered by spiritual health professionals includes:

• Supporting the emotional,  spiritual, religious and cultural needs of patients, families and health-care staff  
• Providing comprehensive spiritual health and emotional support services
• Consulting with staff and physicians on spiritual and religious care matters related to health-care decisions
• Liaising with spiritual/religious/cultural groups in the community to facilitate the provision of rites, rituals and augment services
• Partnering with Indigenous health programs

If you think a spiritual health professional can help you or someone you care for, contact your health-care provider.

Other IH facilities may offer support through community based spiritual health volunteers. These volunteers are not employees of IH and provide basic screening and spiritually sensitive support. There are limitations to the support they can offer as they do not provide professional spiritual health-care services. If you think a spiritual health volunteer can help you or someone you care for, contact your health-care provider.  

The following locations offer spiritual health volunteer support:

• East Kootenay Regional Hospital
• Penticton Regional Hospital
• Vernon Jubilee Hospital

IH welcomes community religious, cultural/spiritual visitors when their faith or community members are receiving care at our acute care facility. These visitors visit members of their faith/community group. You will be asked at the time of admission if you wish to identify your religion or faith affiliation for the purpose of a visit.