We are IH: Candace Baptiste

We are IH is a recognition campaign to spotlight Interior Health employees and medical staff – through pictures and stories.

Name: Candace Baptiste

Job Title: Nursing Assistant

Years of Service: 12 years

Worksite: Sunnybank Centre

Community: Oliver

Ancestral Territory: Syilx

Advice to live by: Everyone should treat people the way they would like to be treated.

For Candace Baptiste, working as a nursing assistant at Sunnybank Centre in Oliver is a labour of love. She began working in long-term care 12 years ago because of her grandparents – she grew up close to them and wished she could provide more help as they aged. 

“I still til this day treat the people I care for as grandmas and grandpas,” she says.  

As a Syilx woman from the Osoyoos Indian Band, Candace was raised to respect her elders. She is proud of her heritage and takes pride in her work, too. 

Candace would like to see more recognition of Indigenous culture within Interior Health. Through her chosen career, she has been able to care for members of her community and serve as a liaison for the Osoyoos Indian Band. 

“I believe in empowering individuals who may not have a voice of their own.” 

In her free time, Candace loves to cook and spend time with her family. The family favourite is Indian tacos. Candace makes them with a big batch of ground moose or deer meat and bannock prepared the way her grandma taught her. 

“It’s pretty close to hers, but not exactly the same yet,” she says. “I have been making it for at least 20 years now and I hope I can get it like my grandma's one day.”