Name: Barb Burke (she/her/hers)Job Title: Team Lead, Home Support Transformation ProjectYears of Service: 41Worksite: Kamloops Public Health        Community: Hybrid – Home and Penticton Regional HospitalAncestral Territory: Sylix NationFavourite Quote / Advice to live by: “Family is everything” During her 41 years working at Interior Health (IH), Barb Burke, team lead, Home Support Transformation Project, has worked in almost every department in the hospital. She says she loves the challenge of work, but most importantly she loves helping people. “I started in the laundry at Penticton Regional Hospital on Feb. 14, 1983. I’ve worked in almost every department that you can think of," she says. "My favourite was probably the operating room. I love the challenge of work, but I love helping people. No matter what I was doing, whether it was working in admitting, switchboard, or housekeeping, you’re always helping someone.”

Thirty years ago, Shawn Penno moved from Kelowna to Armstrong to be with his now wife. He had been working as a manager in building products in Kelowna but missed being in health care. “Both my wife and her mom had been care aides, and I thought, it will take just six months of training to become a community health worker and then I’d go from there,” he says. “But I got into it, and I loved it.” Today, Shawn is not only a community health worker, but a union shop steward, an instructor for safe patient handling, and a co-chair of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee. “It’s been a lifelong journey. I had been in medical school for a couple of years but had to leave for family reasons. I had a nurse once tell me, ‘You should be an RN.’ But I love where I am. I love the hands-on care and knowing so many people in town.” Community health workers play an important in delivering care in the comfort of people's homes. Every day, hundreds of health workers across Interior Health visit thousands of clients to provide a range of services so they can live independently at home.

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 first story of our series on the incredible health-care and hospital foundations throughout our region, we interviewed Lisa Pasin, Executive Director, Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH) Health Foundation. This post was updated June 2025.

Name: Joanne Juras (she/her/hers)Job Title: Public Health NurseYears of Service: 25Worksite: Kamloops Public Health        Community: KamloopsAncestral Territory: Tk’emlups te SecwepemcFavourite Quote / Advice to live by: “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life.” ― James Thurber, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Joanne Juras grew up as far away from the B.C. Interior as one can imagine. Born and raised in Sierra Leone until she was about six years old, Joanne lived in a town without running water. Her mom, an American, was a midwife who delivered babies, while her British father was a school teacher who made life interesting for the family at home. “My dad, as a science teacher, collected a lot of animals. We had a pet monkey and all sorts of pets―armadillos, he brought in snakes. I remember all that stuff,” she says. The family moved to Winnipeg when she was six and Joanne later moved to B.C. on her own.

Opened in July 2022, the nine-story Phil and Jennie Gaglardi Tower at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) is a state-of-the-art facility that serves Kamloops and surrounding communities.  Not only was the tower built with direct input from medical staff, health-care teams, local health-care workers and Indigenous partners, it was also designed and built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards. 

Nestled just east of the Cascade Mountains along Highway 3, at the juncture of the Similkameen and Tulameen rivers, lies Princeton. The small town of just over 2,800—whose slogan is “Where rivers and friends meet”—is known for its forestry, mining and ranching, as well as outdoor pursuits like bird watching and fishing. It’s also a town that’s becoming known for its resiliency. Princeton has seen more than its share of adversity, from devastating floods in 2021, to wildfires and evacuations, to a persistent boil water notice since Dec. 2021. There’s a “can-do” ethic shared by Princeton residents, and these disasters have brought the town and residents together. It’s this same sense of community and can-do ethic that have brought the community together to help transform conversations around alcohol.

Brynn and Hayden are youth in the Interior who have lived experience with substance use. They teamed up with Interior Heath to promote new services for their youth peers. The SAY project was launched in 2023 to promote the new substance use services Interior Health created specifically for youth across the region. Hayden and Brynn (not their real names) helped create the campaign to spread the word about these services. Check out the Substance Use Services Available for Youth (SAY) In this blog post, they share what the SAY project is all about, and what it means to them.  

Name: Logan Nealis (he/him/his)Job Title: Clinical Psychologist Years of Service: TwoWorksite: Royal Inland HospitalCommunity: KamloopsAncestral Territory: SecwépemcFavourite Quote / Advice to live by: “We’re all just walking each other home.” – Ram Dass As one of the only psychologists in Canada working as an integrated member of an acute trauma service, Dr. Logan Nealis is on the leading edge of improving trauma care at Interior Health (IH). Day to day, his work involves supporting the psychological needs of patients presenting with significant physical trauma. More broadly, he and his team seek to understand and model what can be accomplished with patient care by considering and addressing the psychological needs of trauma patients early in their recovery.

The news of Dr. Doug Cochrane’s recent passing has impacted communities and individuals across B.C. and beyond. Those who had the honour to work alongside him over his long and highly respected career are mourning the loss of an esteemed colleague, who will be well-remembered for his gentle approach to leadership and his ability to humanize the most complex of issues. Even those who only knew him briefly will surely remember Doug for his humility, integrity, and kindness.  Doug had stepped down as Interior Health Board Chair for health reasons on Feb. 4, 2024. He joined IH in 2017, and every day since had demonstrated a deep commitment to continuous improvement of patient care, quality and safety knowing it would lead to improved health outcomes.  “I will miss Doug as a colleague, mentor, and friend and remember him for his kind and gentle approach to leadership, always willing to take on the toughest of challenges in the most human of ways. On behalf of Interior Health, I extend our deepest sympathies to his family and loved ones during this difficult time,” said IH president and CEO Susan Brown. “Doug leaves a lasting legacy as he guided our reconciliation efforts from a personal commitment to listening and learning from Indigenous peoples in the Interior, their histories and how the current systems in place have impacted them directly.” Read Susan Brown's full statement  Read statement from Adrian Dix, Minister of Health Indigenous health and wellness were of particular importance to Doug as he served as Co-Chair of both the First Nations and Métis partnership leadership tables. Doug’s contributions to B.C.’s health-care system overall are unparalleled, having chaired the BC Patient Safety Task Force from its inception in 2003 to the creation of the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council (now known as Health Quality BC) and as the provincial patient safety and quality officer from 2008 to 2019. Doug was also past chair of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute. Doug was a highly esteemed mentor and educator, with more than three decades of clinical expertise as a pediatric neurosurgeon. He was appointed Professor Emeritus by the UBC department of surgery in 2016 and served as faculty for the Health Quality BC Quality Academy and Clinician Quality Academy programs, as well as the Sauder Physician Leadership program at UBC.