Our family was recently impacted by an emergency, and an aging relative was hospitalized. With ongoing restrictions due to COVID, there were limitations to in-person visits and some family members involved in care live afar. After the acute event was over and our aging loved one was back home, I reflected on how much of our communication and caregiving was done virtually – texting, email, videoconference, apps to feel closer to each other, online booking for transportation and apps designed to help coordinate tasks and scheduling.

Jennifer Thur (left), an Obstetrics Registered Nurse at Royal Inland Hospital, and Jessica Rathgeber, Obstetrics Nursing Student

We’re privileged at Interior Health to support more than 6,000 students who walk through our doors, breathing fresh excitement into our hallways. Preceptorship, the advising relationship between an experienced professional and a student entering the field, serves as an absolute cornerstone of education in health care. 

IH’s dedicated employees spend more than 500,000 hours serving as preceptors across the organization each year.

Ashcroft and area residents are advised of a temporary closure of the emergency department at the Ashcroft Hospital and Community Health Care Centre this weekend due to unforeseen limited staffing availability.

Normal emergency department hours in Ashcroft are currently 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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:

Clearwater and area residents are advised that the emergency department at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital will be closed from 5 a.m. April 3 to 7 a.m. April 5 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:

If necessity is the mother of invention, then it only makes sense that the need for continued interaction with each other during the pandemic lockdown meant people changed the way they communicated. By adopting more innovative avenues like videoconferencing, they found they could successfully achieve many tasks – including the ability to have a quality virtual health-care appointment with their care provider.

Interior Health is actively recruiting healthcare staff in Ashcroft and throughout the region.

“We are recruiting to fill vacancies in the beautiful community of Ashcroft and offering a variety of incentives such as relocation assistance and loan forgiveness programs to encourage rewarding careers in health-care,” said Interior Health president and CEO, Susan Brown. “Anyone interested in making a positive difference in people’s lives and living in some of the most beautiful communities in the world, should consider career opportunities with Interior Health.”

Spring is here and the warmer weather means more people will be out hiking in tall grass or wooded areas which can also mean an increased chance of getting tick bites. Ticks are small bugs that bite and feed on the blood of humans and animals and can sometimes transmit disease. Fortunately, there are precautions people can take to prevent illnesses that may be transmitted from tick bites.

Name: Ryan Benson (she/her/hers)
Job Title: Improvement Consultant
Years of Service: 14
Worksite: Community Health & Services Centre
Community: Kelowna
Ancestral Territory: Syilx
Advice to live by: “Life is short – use the good china.” - Unknown

As an Improvement Consultant with Interior Health, Ryan Benson likes to bring positivity and a sense of a can-do attitude to everything she encounters in her day.

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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Medications are prescribed to treat symptoms and to manage medical conditions or mitigate the risk of future events. It’s important to take the right medication at the right time and in the right dose. When we don’t take medications properly, it can lead to ineffectiveness, side effects and possibly even harm.