While breastfeeding is natural, it’s not always easy and can take time, patience and support. There are many caring people who are available to help you on your journey. These include public health nurses, lactation consultants, your doctor, midwife, and family or friends. To help parents with their infant feeding goals, Interior Health has introduced new accessible services and resources that meet parents where they are at. These resources are aimed to make it easy for parents to access breastfeeding guidance and expertise in Interior Health, and support parents no matter where they live. “We recognize that inequalities affect parents across the Interior region,” says Rebecca Gibbons, manager, Healthy Start Healthy Schools at IH. “Those who live in rural and remote areas, Indigenous families, and parents of colour, face special challenges when it comes to accessing services and information about feeding their baby. It’s important to us that no family is left behind.”

We are excited to announce the launch of the Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) – Interior Health (IH) Métis Health and Wellness Plan, an initiative dedicated to enhancing health and wellness outcomes for Métis people through collaboration and cultural integration.  Check out the plan A year ago, at the 2023 Annual General Meeting in Kamloops, Métis Nation British Columbia and Interior Health signed a Letter of Understanding. Since then, significant strides have been made in advocating for Métis communities across BC and increasing Métis visibility. Our ongoing collaborative efforts continue to drive progress, and we are excited to share recent achievements as well as upcoming projects. Members of the Métis Nation BC - IH Leadership Table (MILT) at the 2023 MNBC AGM. From left to right:  Nicole Taylor-Sterritt, Tanya Davoren, Stephen Thomson, Addie Pryce, Dr. Doug Cochrane, Louis De Jaeger, Becca Britton, Kaelyn Elfert, Kris Murray

Name: Ashley Ogilvie (she/her/hers)Job Title: Nursing Unit AssistantYears of Service: 7Worksite: Queen Victoria HospitalCommunity: Revelstoke Ancestral Territory: Secwépemc/ShuswapFavourite Quote / Advice to live by: Live life to the fullest! Ashley Ogilvie is a nursing unit assistant (NUA) at Queen Victoria Hospital in Revelstoke, B.C. For Ashley, the best aspect of being part of a health-care team is the collaboration with doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals, which fosters a sense of community and shared purpose.  “Nursing unit assistants often play a crucial role in supporting staff and ensuring that patients receive the care they need,” explains Ashley. “This can be incredibly rewarding for those who are driven by a desire to help make a difference in other people’s lives.”

The East Kootenay Regional Hospital (EKRH) is Interior Health’s fourth and newest clinical research site thanks in part to the efforts of Dr. Denise Jaworsky, an internal medicine physician at IH. With an initial grant from Accelerating Clinical Trials Canada, Dr. Jaworsky and her team are establishing an integrated and sustainable clinical research program in the Kootenays. Now, Dr. Jaworsky has won a major award from Michael Smith Health Research BC that will further her and her team's efforts. The Health Professional-Investigator Award supports health professionals who are actively involved in patient care to build their health research programs, train the next generation of scientists, and make significant contributions to their field. “Dr. Denise Jaworsky’s Health Professional-Investigator Award is significant,” says Dr. Devin Harris, executive medical director, Quality, Engagement and Research at IH. “This award allows her to continue her research focused on rural health issues, and lead research in the East Kootenays and Interior Health. This award will have a lasting impact on patient care and will be a catalyst not only for research in Interior Health, but for Dr. Jaworsky as a promising rural clinician-scientist.”

In a tale of collaboration and community support, a recent graduation ceremony in Lillooet became the backdrop for celebrating the accomplishments of a cohort from the Health Career Access Program (HCAP). This joint initiative by the Lillooet Tribal Council (LTC) – Community Adult Learning Centre (CALC), Okanagan College and Interior Health marked a significant milestone for its participants who completed their education on August 9, 2024.

Pulmonary function testing (PFT) is crucial for diagnosing and managing respiratory conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung disease. Testing helps assess the severity of lung impairment, monitor the progress of diseases, and evaluate treatment effectiveness. Quicker access to pulmonary function test results can lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment, which is crucial for respiratory conditions that require immediate attention. Interior Health’s Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT) project is an initiative two years in the making. It revolutionizes how pulmonary function tests are conducted, interpreted and reported within Interior Health. It promises to deliver test results to patients more quickly, reducing wait times for reports from two weeks to just a few days.

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 Allison (Allie) Young, CEO of KGH Foundation.

Name: Lauren Isber (she/her/hers)Job Title: Digital Health Support ClerkYears of Service: 3Worksite: Kelowna WarehouseCommunity:  KelownaAncestral Territory: Syilx NationFavourite Quote / Advice to live by: I try to live in the present, plan for the future but not worry about things that do not exist. Be optimistic! Lauren Isber knows a thing or two about navigating the health-care system. Born in Savannah, Georgia, U.S., to Canadian health-care worker parents, as well as being a patient herself, Lauren currently provides support to Interior Health (IH) patients and clients who need help making medical appointments or using MyHealthPortal. Through her role as a digital health support clerk, she’s able to help individuals in a personal way, which brings her satisfaction and a sense of purpose and value. “We all know what it’s like when we need assistance with something and don’t have an option to speak to a person directly.”

Cardiac patients at times face life-or-death situations and need timely care. In Salmon Arm, they are receiving that quick care thanks to the work of the cardiology team. After watching wait times for stress tests and Holter monitoring grow, the team readjusted schedules and reprioritized resources to provide the timely care needed. “Patients come to the emergency room in Salmon Arm with chest pain. They need a stress test to make sure it’s not a heart attack or angina,” notes Dr. Laurie Main, general internist at Shuswap Lake General Hospital. Dr. Main says patients were returning home after a visit to the emergency room with few answers about the status of their heart. They were also waiting up to a month to get a stress test, compared to the mandated wait time of two weeks. “Before, patients would go home and have no idea what’s going on with their heart and wait weeks on end to get their stress test,” she says. Now, patients are waiting just days. Increasing the number of Holter monitors from eight to 20 has allowed the hospital to reduce wait times by almost 23 per cent and increase capacity for stress testing by 44 per cent. The team also spent time optimizing the scheduling process to accommodate additional patients. “Our cardiac technologists said, ‘Well, we don’t really need that much time to get the patient on a treadmill and get the stress test done,’” says Dr. Main. “We worked on scheduling optimization, reducing the time spent on each test, so we are able to see one more patient a day for the treadmill.” Doing that every day of the week allows five more patients to have their tests while using existing resources she explains. Patients like Victor Hooper, who has a history of cardiac issues and often needs immediate care to be monitored, have noticed the positive changes. “It’s really good. In the last three months, I’ve been in three times for cardioversions because I went into [atrial fibrillation], and they run me through and get it done,” he says. “They’re on it. [The process] works really well. The nurses and doctors are amazing.”