Community & Culture

We Are IH: Julie’s inspiration comes from her own family

February 1, 2024
Julie at Pigeon Point in St. Lucia, Caribbean

Name: Julie Bodden (she/her/hers)
Job Title: Community Integration Care Coordinator
Years of Service: 8
Worksite: Vernon Urgent & Primary Care Centre
Community:  Vernon
Ancestral Territory: Syilx
Favourite Quote / Advice to live by: “When you make an observation, you have an obligation.” - M. K. Asante

Meet Julie Bodden, community integration care coordinator at Vernon Urgent & Primary Care Centre! This adventure-seeking world traveller has visited all seven continents, experienced penguin watching in Antarctica, climbed Kilimanjaro, and has even dove with whale sharks and giant hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos!

Learn more about Julie’s journey with IH

It should come as no surprise that Julie comes from a long lineage of influential trailblazers like herself. Julie shares:

“I look no further than my own family for inspiration during Black History Month. My father helped break the colour barrier … as the second black member in the RCMP, and the first from Nova Scotia. My cousin was the first black pharmacist in Nova Scotia, and my great grandfather and great, great uncle were both enlisted with the No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all-black battalion that served in [World War I].”

Her great, great uncle is even on a Canadian stamp and coin that Commemorates the No. 2 Construction Battalion.

A Black woman with curly dark hair smiling for the camera

Julie is a proud member of the Black History Month Steering Committee at Interior Health.

Julie started her career in health care working as a nurse after getting her bachelor’s degree in nursing and master’s degree in health-care administration and management. “Nursing gave me many opportunities to travel and broaden my nursing practice,” informed Julie. 

Underwater photo of a scuba diver smiling while yellow fish swim around her
Julie diving in Curacao.

Julie has worked and travelled all over the world. She has worked in Alberta, B.C., six U.S. states, Australia, and Saudi Arabia. She has also worked in many different health-care environments, including medical surgical units, addiction medicine, and Telehealth, with people from all over the world.

A Black woman smiling with the Golden Gate Bridge behind her
Julie in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco.

Having experience and education in both nursing and health-care administration and management led her to her current role at Interior Health, where she is working as a community integration care coordinator (CICC) at the Vernon Urgent & Primary Care Centre (UPCC). 
CICCs are responsible for the coordination of quality client care and the day-to-day operations within their designated clinical areas. As a team lead at the Vernon UPCC, Julie

  • Coordinates patient care
  • Is responsible for supervising staff 
  • Monitors clinic resources and logistics 
  •  Provides critical input to the operational manager on all areas affecting the clinic

Urgent and Primary Care Centres provide same-day, urgent access to health care, 365 days year. 

“One of my proudest moments at Interior Health was being involved with the implementation and opening of the Vernon UPCC. We were working under a very short timeline - I had never been a part of anything like that before!”

-- Julie Bodden

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