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One year ago today, Crystal Head of Vernon was the first registered nurse in B.C. to write an opioid agonist treatment (OAT) prescription for opioid use disorder, as part of the provincial government’s overdose response. Since that time, the nurse prescriber team in Interior Health has grown to include 16 nurses, working in 11 communities to support people with opioid use disorder, including 100 Mile House, Castlegar, Cranbrook, the Elk Valley, Nelson, Penticton, Lillooet, Revelstoke, Trail, Kelowna and Vernon.

People in the Okanagan living with mental health and substance-use challenges will have access to new treatment and recovery services as government responds to the rising need due to the toxic drug supply.  Through Interior Health, the Province is adding 22 new adult substance-use beds to serve people in the Okanagan. Government is also working with the Interior Health, BC Housing and local service providers to bring complex care housing to Kelowna and Kamloops to support people living with complex mental health and substance use, who have been caught in a cycle of evictions, shelters, and often emergency rooms and jail cells.View the full release

People in Vernon will have access to new and expanded mental health and substance-use services as government continues to build a comprehensive system of care throughout British Columbia. Through Interior Health, the Province will add four new services and expand four others, as well as recruit 19 full-time equivalent workers to provide substance-use and mental health supports in Vernon and nearby communities. View the full release

Interior Health is pleased to announce that the new Cranbrook Urgent and Primary Care Centre has hired more health-care professionals and extended its hours of operation.

Patients with infections requiring intravenous (IV) antibiotic treatment can now receive care at a new outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) clinic at Kelowna General Hospital. The clinic, which opened in February, is located on the second floor of the Dr. Walter Anderson Building at KGH and is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Interior Health’s next virtual career fair will be held March 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST. This fair will be aimed at all positions in Interior Health. Those interested in attending can book an online one-on-one session and meet their recruiter to learn about opportunities for Aboriginal careers, environmental public health, health care assistants, laboratory, mental health, nursing, and more.

A new parking payment system will take effect at East Kootenay Regional Hospital (EKRH) and Rocky Mountain Lodge on March 4, 2022.

As COVID-19 vaccination rates continue to increase, Interior Health plans to streamline its immunization campaign with new clinic locations. Over the coming weeks, the COVID-19 vaccine appointments will move from mass immunization clinics to pharmacies and IH health centres. 

Interior Health is taking a phased approach to resume services that were temporarily paused last month due to COVID-19. The service adjustments, announced Jan. 18, were implemented to preserve safe and reliable access to patient care across the Interior region.