Clearwater and area residents are advised of a temporary change to the emergency department hours at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital this afternoon and overnight due to unforeseen limited staffing availability.

The emergency department will be closed:

• 3 p.m. May 10 to 7 a.m. May 11

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:

Residents are advised the emergency department at the Slocan Community Health Centre will be resuming 24-hour service.

“I would like to thank the community for its support while we managed Omicron-driven staffing challenges earlier this year and reduced emergency services to maintain safe patient care,” said Interior Health president and CEO, Susan Brown. “I’m pleased to share that Interior Health has successfully recruited two additional registered nurses to the community and we can now resume normal operations.”

Helping new managers is a dream job for Colleen McEwan (pictured above), who has become the first manager mentor in Interior Health. 

Before her retirement, she worked as both a manager and a director in clinical operations for Interior Health in the Central Okanagan, North Okanagan and Thompson regions. Last fall, she returned on a part-time basis to pilot a manager mentor program at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) in Kamloops, where many managers are new to their roles.

Please see the attached document to learn more about the look, contamination, and risk associated with the current drug alert. 

View more toxic drug, environmental, and COVID-19 alerts.

Clint Blok, playing his guitar while camping

Name: Clint Blok (he/him/his)
Job Title: Community Integration Care Coordinator
Years of Service: 11
Worksite: Penticton Urgent and Primary Care Centre
Community: Penticton
Ancestral Territory: Syilx Okanagan
Advice to live by: Be the best version of yourself!

Our social media platforms are a great way to engage with our Interior Health community and share information. Check out these recent posts, and consider sharing them with your friends and family on your own social channels. 

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A mother goose who hatched three goslings outside the Royal Inland Hospital labour and delivery room window needed a lot of human help to make it safely to the South Thompson River in Kamloops Monday and she wasn’t afraid to take it. 

Sandra Ohlemann (second from right), who lives in Creekside Landing, participates in a ground-breaking ceremony with (from left) Kevin Svoboda of Creekside Landing; Diane Shendruk, Interior Health VP of Clinical Operation North; Mable Elmore, Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors and Long-Term Care; and, Vernon Monashee MLA Harwinder Sandhu.

Residents in Clinton and Ashcroft are advised of laboratory service changes in their communities.

To reduce travel for Clinton residents, the Clinton Health Centre is now offering blood collection services on Wednesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the support of a medical lab assistant from Ashcroft. Walk-ins are available from between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. and again between noon and 1 p.m.  Booked appointments are available between 8 a.m. and noon.