Interior Health is making it easier for people living in North Okanagan communities to access home and community care and chronic disease management services. Seniors and others can now easily connect to health-care services in their community seven days per week, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. by calling 1-800-707-8550. Communities in the North Okanagan region are the latest to see the new 1-800 number implemented. The central number has been expanding in phases and with this activation, seniors across the entire Interior Health region can now access this number. Calling this number will connect people to a central intake office, which will refer callers to appropriate services including: Care management services: community nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, dietitian, social work, speech language, and respiratory therapy support in your home to assist your daily living needs, such as personal care, special exercises, medication assistance and in-home respite adult day services (personal care services and therapeutic activities in a community setting) eligibility assessment for funded assisted living and long-term care homes Palliative care services: community nursing social work hospice care Acquired brain injury services coordination of health services for individuals with brain injury client-centred services to support individuals with brain injury to maximize their independence in daily living support and education regarding recovery The new 1-800 number does not replace existing contact numbers, including the Interior Health crisis line (1-888-353-2273), hospital or emergency services, or 911. The phone line has been developed in response to feedback from clients and the public, to make it simpler for people to find and access the services they need. Similar improvements to access have been initiated for community mental health and substance use with a new single phone line 310‑MHSU (6478) that launched in 2021. Quick Facts: The communities included within this expansion to the North Okanagan are: Vernon Armstrong Enderby Salmon Arm Revelstoke Spallumcheen Falkland Lumby Cherryville Coldstream Lavington Grindrod Tappen Blind Bay Sorrento Canoe Sicamous Malakwa Craigellachie

During National Volunteer Week (April 24-30, 2022), Interior Health (IH) extends its gratitude to more than 4,800+ IH volunteers across the region. “Thank you to everyone volunteering with Interior Health across the region,” said Interior Health president and CEO, Susan Brown. “Your warmth, kindness, and compassion provides comfort to people in our care, and it makes a tremendous difference across IH.” In addition, Interior Health is grateful for the efforts of countless hospital foundation and auxiliary staff and volunteers who are dedicated to advancing health care through fundraising and support services. Their networks of committed volunteers raise support and awareness for causes in new and creative ways. This year, the National Volunteer Week theme is ‘Volunteering is Empathy in Action,’ a phrase that captures perfectly the importance of volunteer contributions to our health system. “All of us, at some time, will need assistance or help, and being there for someone else to make their lives a little easier is something that brings me a great deal of satisfaction,” said Angela Bearman, a community volunteer of 18 years in Kelowna. “By giving back through volunteering, I believe we strengthen our community’s social fabric, making it a better place for all to live and thrive.” Volunteer with IH Volunteers complement the care provided by our professionals, and are welcomed, respected and valued members of the IH team. Volunteers are encouraged to share their life experiences to help others, gain a personal satisfaction that comes from helping others, or explore career and education options. Volunteers are present in many health-care programs and services, including community care, hospitals, long-term care and public health. Learn why volunteers love their roles with Interior Health or how to volunteer here.

Merritt and area residents are advised that the emergency department at Nicola Valley Hospital will be closed today from 6:30 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, April 24, due to unforeseen limited staffing availability. Interior Health regrets this temporary change to normal operations and reminds residents to take note of the following if they require care while the emergency department is closed: In the event of an emergency, call 911. Visit the emergency department at one of the following facilities: Royal Inland Hospital - 311 Columbia St., Kamloops Kelowna General Hospital - 2268 Pandosy St., Kelowna Call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 (24 hour service) if you are unsure of your need to seek emergency care. Interior Health apologizes for this temporary interruption to normal services.

Please see the attached document to learn more about the look, contamination, and risk associated with the current drug alert.  View more toxic drug and environmental and COVID-19 alerts

People in Vernon will soon have greater access to care closer to home with construction underway on 90 new publicly funded long-term care beds in the community, as part of the largest one-time increase in long-term care beds in the Interior in more than 16 years. View the full release

This year’s Earth Day theme – invest in our planet – fits perfectly with Interior Health’s commitment to protect the planet and reduce our environmental footprint.  “At Interior Health, we are focused on providing a greener health-care environment across the region,” said Interior Health president and CEO, Susan Brown. “With innovative solutions, collaboration, and new investments, we are lowering our carbon footprint and doing our part to prevent the effects of climate change.” Committed to Meeting Reduction Targets Interior Health has implemented many initiatives to lower waste, improve efficiencies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach CleanBC targets. Changes, both big and small, reduce health sector impacts on the environment and Interior Health is committed to work towards lowering our overall environmental footprint. Eliminating Styrofoam in Food Services Interior Health food services are phasing out the use of Styrofoam products, such as cups and takeout containers. Styrofoam is made of polystyrene and is slow to degrade and fills up landfills. It contains styrene, and when exposed to sunlight, can create harmful air pollutants and further contaminate landfills and deplete the ozone layer. During manufacturing, the process releases large amounts of ozone into the atmosphere, causing respiratory and environmental issues. Interior Health’s commitment this Earth Day is to eliminate Styrofoam use, find cost-effective alternatives, and reduce the impact food services have on the planet.  Reducing Waste Gasses Interior Health is also implementing a new process to recover and collect waste anesthetic gasses and prevent any waste gasses from venting into the environment. During surgery, approximately five per cent of anesthetic gasses are metabolized by the patient. That means close to 95 per cent is exhaled and, through mechanical systems, vented out into the environment. These waste gasses are potent greenhouse gasses (GHG) contributing to climate change. Starting this summer at the Phil and Jennie Gaglardi Tower at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) in Kamloops, IH will deploy technology to collect the waste gasses and avoid venting. Not only will these gasses now be collected, but they’ll also be re-processed by a Health Canada licenced facility. IH will use the re-processed gasses for general anesthesia, increasing available supply in addition to eliminating the vented gasses from the environment. IH will be the first B.C. health authority to implement this full solution. “This year, our investment to eliminate Styrofoam and reprocess anesthetic waste gasses will reduce the impacts health care has on our planet,” said Donna Lommer, vice president, clinical and corporate services. “These priorities are among several other environmental sustainability and improvement initiatives underway at Interior Health.” Climate change and health leadership A new lead position is being created at Interior Health to develop climate change strategies in health care. This individual will work with medical health officers, environmental public health, healthy communities teams, Aboriginal health and community partners to address the impacts and adapt to the ongoing challenges of climate change on the overall health of communities. “Climate change is one of the greatest health challenges facing communities in Interior Health as we are seeing with increased fires, flooding and extreme heat events. We all have a role to play in fighting climate change and this new position was created to help Interior Health move forward with our partners in doing everything we can to reduce our own impacts and support the broader health of our communities,” said Dr. Sue Pollock, interim chief medical health officer. Interior Health is in the process of filling this important new position.

The Penticton Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC) is celebrating one year of expanded access to services and team-based health care in the community. “The urgent and primary care centre has proven to be a valuable community resource in Penticton,” said Interior Health president and CEO, Susan Brown. “Whether it’s being used to treat someone’s urgent care needs to prevent an unnecessary emergency department visit, or connecting people to mental health and substance use supports, it has seen more than 17,000 visits since opening last year.” Located at 101 – 437 Martin Street, the Penticton UPCC provides longitudinal primary care services for people with mental health and substance use needs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, and then provides urgent primary care services from 5 to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday and 12 to 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays. During the day, services include mental health and substance-use health care, opioid agonist treatment, access to specialized mental health and substance use services like case management, women’s health support and counselling referrals. During the evenings and weekends, the Penticton UPCC provides team-based care for non-emergency health concerns to individuals in Penticton who require same day attention. Care is available for concerns such as minor injuries, sprains and strains, infections, less serious child illness and injury, high fever, and cuts, wounds or skin conditions. Patients can call 250-770-3696 during daytime hours to book an urgent care appointment for evenings and weekends. “After injuring my knee during spring break, I called the Penticton urgent and primary care centre to have it checked out. The staff were great and I was able to see a physiotherapist and have it looked at right away,” said Peter Verge, a Penticton community member. “If it wasn’t for this place, I would have ended up in the emergency department.” During a visit, someone may be seen by a physician, a nurse practitioner, a registered nurse, or another health professional such as a social worker, mental health worker, or a physiotherapist, depending on their needs. “It’s great working in a multi-disciplinary team as this makes caring for a patient very easy,” said Dr. Wessel Joubert, physician lead for urgent care at the Penticton UPCC. “It helps divide the workload, everyone practices to their full scope, and the patients get a holistic wrap-around service.” In collaboration with the South Okanagan Similkameen Division of Family Practice, the UPCC also assists in connecting patients without a primary care provider to a family doctor or nurse practitioner either at the centre or in the community. The Penticton UPCC is part of the South Okanagan Similkameen Primary Care Network. It is a collaboration between Interior Health, the Ministry of Health, the South Okanagan Similkameen Division of Family Practice, the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Hospital District, the Martin Street Outreach Centre Association, OneSky Community Resources and local Indigenous partners, including the Penticton Indian Band and Ooknakane Friendship Centre. Interior Health has seven Urgent and Primary Care Centres located in Castlegar, Cranbrook, Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and West Kelowna.

Clearwater and area residents are advised of a temporary change to the emergency department hours at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital this weekend due to unforeseen limited staffing availability. The emergency department will be closed: 6 p.m. Saturday, April 16 to 7 a.m. Sunday, April 17 6 p.m. Monday, April 18 to 7 a.m. Tuesday, April 19 Interior Health regrets this temporary change to normal operations and reminds residents to take note of the following if they require care while the emergency department is closed: In the event of an emergency, call 911. Visit the emergency department at one of the following facilities: Royal Inland Hospital – 311 Columbia Street, Kamloops Call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 (24 hour service) if you are unsure of your need to seek emergency care The emergency department in Clearwater is normally open 24/7.

On April 14, 2016, the increasing number of opioid overdoses prompted the Province to declare a public health emergency. Six years later, close to 1,500* family members, friends, coworkers, teammates, neighbours and friends have been lost to overdose within the Interior Health region alone. In recognition of this sombre anniversary, IH mental health and substance use teams and community partners will display black balloons in communities across Interior Health on April 14. This acknowledgement of all those lost is inspired by international Black Balloon Day which took place on March 6. “Interior Health continues to expand harm reduction measures and invest in mental health and substance use services,” says Interior Health president and CEO, Susan Brown. “We know the steps taken over the last six years, such as distribution of Take Home Naloxone kits, introduction of drug-checking services, opening new supervised consumption services and expanding substance use treatment, have saved countless lives. Unfortunately, the crisis continues in the face of an increasingly unpredictable, poisonous drug supply. We never lose sight of the lives lost and continue to work hard to expand access to harm reduction and treatment.” Across Interior Health, mental health and substance use services have been expanding alongside increasing overdose prevention services. New youth substance use services including inpatient treatment, counselling, intensive case management and withdrawal management beds have been added recently, along with record investments in adult substance use services. If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Call 310-MHSU or visit interiorhealth.ca to learn more. How can you help? On April 14, display black balloons at your business/home. Take the pledge – avoid stigmatizing language around substance use. Carry a naloxone kit and learn how to use it. Find a location where you can get a kit and training. Start a conversation – whether you are a parent, friend, or colleague, talking about overdose prevention and substance use is a crucial step. Learn how to identify and respond to an overdose. Call 911 in case of overdose – the Good Samaritan law can protect people from drug possession charges if they experience or call 911 after witnessing an overdose. *BC Coroner's Service Drug Toxicity Reports 2016 - 2022