Interior Health (IH) is responding to additional fire-related impacts to seniors care facilities in the Kelowna/West Kelowna area.

To ensure the safety of individuals in care as well as the staff and physicians supporting them, IH is working with partners and has recommended its care facility partners evacuate the following locations:

Grand Forks and area residents are advised of temporary changes to emergency department hours at Boundary District Hospital (BDH) due to unexpected limited physician availability. This change is not related to current wildfire activity in the Interior.

When Dallas had her son eight years ago, she quickly realized she had more milk than she her son needed to thrive.

“I knew there were babies who could really benefit from my donated breast milk,” says Dallas, a public health nurse at Interior Health. “I have donated more than 20 litres of expressed breast milk to the milk bank. I got the idea from my own mom, who also donated when I was born prematurely at BC Women’s Hospital in 1985.

Interior Health is responding to fire-related impacts to health facilities and clients in West Kelowna.

Brookhaven Care Centre is not currently on evacuation order as a result of the McDougall Creek Wildfire, however, given its close proximity to the evacuation order area and out of an abundance of caution, Interior Health has evacuated the site. 95 individuals in care are being moved to appropriate alternate facilities in the Kelowna and Summerland areas. Interior Health is contacting families directly to update them on the location of their loved one.

Name: Tracy McKelvey (she/her/hers)
Job Title: MHSU Administrative Support Clerk
Years of Service: 15
Worksite: Outpatient Psychiatry, Penticton Mental Health
Community: Penticton
Ancestral Territory: Syilx Nation  
Favourite Quote / Advice to live by: Focus on the positives in life!

Sometimes, travellers can bring back more than souvenirs and memories from their tropical vacation. Numerous tropical diseases can be acquired when travelling such as Malaria, Salmonella infection and rashes. Now, there’s an opportunity for Interior residents who are infected with a tropical disease to be treated closer to home as a new clinic opens in the Okanagan.

Oliver and area residents are advised of temporary changes to emergency department hours at South Okanagan General Hospital (SOGH) due to unexpected limited physician availability. 

From 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 14 to 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15 emergency services will be unavailable and patients can access care at Penticton Regional Hospital.

During this time, all other inpatient services will continue as normal at South Okanagan General Hospital.

Environment Canada continues to adjust heat warnings in the Interior Health region due to daytime temperatures in the mid to high 30 degrees Celsius combined with overnight lows near 18 degrees Celsius. No extreme heat emergencies have been declared at this time.

Please check the Environment Canada website for updates on heat warnings in your area.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued a heat warning for the southern Fraser Canyon including the community of Lytton. Daytime temperatures reaching 35 to 38 degrees Celsius combined with overnight lows near 18 degrees Celsius are forecasted for the next five days from Sunday, August 13 to Thursday, August 17. This is not an extreme heat emergency.

Interior Health is reminding people that elevated temperatures increase the risk of heat-related illness.

Name: Natasha Nel
Job Title: Accounts Receivable - Accounting Assistant
Years of Service: 21
Worksite: Lansdowne Centre
Community: Kamloops
Ancestral Territory: T'Kemlups