Name: Marie May Zubot (she/her/hers)Job Title: Manager, Clinical Operations, Long-Term CareLength of Service: 5 yearsWorksite: Poplar Ridge, Kootenay Boundary Regional HospitalCommunity: Trail / Kootenay BoundaryAncestral Territory: KtunaxaFavourite Quote / Advice to Live By: “Vulnerability is not winning or losing, it's having the courage to show up and be seen when you have no control over the outcome.” —Brene Brown Marie Zubot moved to the Kootenays in 2004 with her husband and three children for a better quality of life and access to the beautiful outdoors and activities that the B.C. Interior offers. They love fishing, hiking, camping and swimming, and in the winter, head to the hills for some snowboarding and ice fishing. “I fell in love with life in the Interior," says Marie. "Our communities are tight knit and comprised of the hardest working people you’ll ever meet. Everywhere you go, you can find a place to belong, and people truly come together in times of hardship.”  Inspired by her community, and what quality of life can be, Marie began her career in health care with a desire to broaden her understanding of what well-being truly means. For Marie, choosing health care as a career meant the opportunity to use her clinical knowledge, lived experience, and lessons to improve the quality of life of her communities, with the person in care at the centre.

New guidelines for emergency departments (EDs) for recognizing and supporting people at risk of suicide have already increased rates of suicide screening and are expected to save lives. In 2020, suicide screening in EDs was added as a requirement by Accreditation Canada, a national organization that assesses health-care services and programs. Interior Health (IH) collaborated with the Canadian Mental Health Association BC and UBC Okanagan (UBCO) to do an in-depth study in the region’s EDs. Led by Dr. Lesley Lutes, along with a team of graduate students, and supported by IH Emergency Services Network regional education coordinator Amy Luff, the UBCO researchers evaluated suicide screening within IH EDs. This included reviewing charts and receiving feedback from both frontline providers and patients. Findings indicated that suicide screening was being done in EDs less than 10 per cent of the time. “I have been working in emergency nursing for more than 20 years,” says IH Emergency Services Network director Lisa Hobenshield. “Generally, we are comfortable in a trauma room or resuscitating patients. Having a therapeutic conversation about somebody’s mental health or their substance use is challenging in an emergency setting. “Yet, the emergency department is where people come to get help,” she continues. “We look at this collaboration as an opportunity to try and change the culture, reduce stigma and help people where they are at.”

Summer’s here and that means backyard barbecues, picnics, beach days and campfire cookouts.  But before you load up the cooler, there’s one thing to keep in mind: warmer temperatures can turn your feast into a fast-track to foodborne illness (food poisoning) if you’re not careful. Bacteria grow and thrive in the heat, and food safety gets trickier when you’re cooking and eating outdoors. Common causes of foodborne illness include campylobacter, salmonella, E. coli, listeria and norovirus. 

Name: Courtney Ruddiman (she/her/hers)Job Title: Team Lead, Recruitment AssistantsLength of Service: 5 yearsWorksite: Kelowna Community Health & Services CentreCommunity: KelownaAncestral Territory: syilx/OkanaganFavourite Quote / Advice to Live By: "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." — Nelson Mandela Born in Saskatchewan, Courtney Ruddiman has lived on the traditional territory of the syilx nation in the South Okanagan since she was two. She now calls Kelowna home. With a background in business management, Courtney joined Interior Health (IH) in 2020 as an administrative assistant. Four years ago, she found her passion in recruitment and human resources (HR). She’s now the lead for the Recruitment Assistants team and has fully immersed herself in HR, and has gone back to school to study human resources management. She’s working towards a Chartered Professional HR (CPHR) designation.

With the summer upon us and long weekends ahead, people are flocking to lakes, rivers, swimming pools and the ocean to cool off. The B.C. Interior is a popular vacation destination, which may account for why Shuswap and Okanagan Lakes are among the top three lakes in B.C. with the most drowning deaths. “Water activities like swimming and boating can be a lot of fun and a great way to cool down, but drowning is a danger we all need to think about," says Mike Adams, team lead with Interior Health's Healthy Communities team. “Drownings peak in the summer months, and can happen quickly and quietly, sometimes in less than a minute.” On average, 78 people die in B.C. each year from drowning. The most common reasons for drowning deaths from 2013 to 2023 were boating, falling into the water and swimming. During that same time period, people 19–29 years old accounted for 20 per cent of deaths, and 80 per cent of all people who died were male. Drowning is preventable. Here are four ways you can be water smart to keep you and your loved ones safe.

Name: Chantal-Michelle Holt (she/her/hers)Job Title: Administration Clerk/Medical Office AssistantLength of Service: 8.5 yearsWorksite: Barriere Health CentreCommunity: BarriereAncestral Territory: Secwepemc Chantal has called Secwepemc territory home her entire life. Her deep connection to the land and community has guided both her personal journey and career path. For Chantal, reconciliation means something beautifully simple and profound: “That no matter what colour our skin, gender or nationality, we all get along.” Chantal’s path to health care was shaped by a deep desire to help others through some of their hardest moments. After joining Interior Health as a housekeeper at Royal Inland Hospital, it didn’t take long for her determination and heart to shine through. Within her first year, she was asked to step into a supervisory role—a proud moment that would set the tone for what was to come. Driven by a dream to work closer to home, she began picking up every shift she could. “Sometimes I would sleep for a few hours in my car between doubles,” she recalls.

Foundations in the Interior region raise funds that support medical equipment, care needs, and innovative local initiatives in their communities. Each organization includes respected community leaders, volunteers and staff who are passionate about meeting the needs of patients and families in Interior Health. Thanks to the generosity of their supporters, we all have a stronger health system.  In this next story of our series on the incredible health-care and hospital foundations throughout our region, we interviewed Richard Bullen, the president of the South Cariboo Health Foundation.  

Fostering the next generation of home-grown health-care workers is at the heart of a successful volunteer and work experience partnership between staff at Lillooet Hospital & Health Centre and School District 74 (SD74). Thanks to the collaboration, several local Lillooet students got a closer look into health care as a profession this year. So far, they like what they see, with two grade 12 students enrolled into post-secondary schools this fall to become registered nurses.

Name: Nida Farooqui (she/her/hers) Job Title: Communications Consultant, Digital HealthLength of Service: 9 monthsWorksite: Kelowna Community Health & Services Centre (CHSC)Community: KelownaAncestral Territory: syilxFavourite Quote / Advice to live by: "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Nida feels grateful to live on the ancestral territory of the syilx Nation where she has lived since June 2024, and from 2020 to 2023.  “To me, reconciliation means to be aware of and grateful for the Indigenous communities,” she says. “It's bringing my whole self to connect, listen and learn from the values and rich history rooted in Indigenous teachings.” Nida has always loved working with and supporting people—especially when it comes to their well-being. She believes two essential pieces that support one's well-being are education and health.  After spending close to a decade of her career dedicated to higher education, she felt compelled to explore health care and use her communications and storytelling skills at Interior Health (IH) as a new way to support people.