A publication for Staff and Physicians of IH
A message from Chris Mazurkewich, Interior Health’s CEO.
Ways you can stay engaged in your day-to-day.
Developing a primary care home model in the Kootenay Boundary.
Introducing Dr. Deanne Taylor, Director of IH’s Research Department.
Saluting IH’s 2016 Health Care Hero, Karen Ritchie.
Designated palliative beds to enhance end-of-life care.
Lean Promotion Office builds expertise from within.
Featuring Brenda Morrow, Home Health Nurse in Creston.
Snapshots of our staff in action and trending health-care videos.
Our 2016 Health Care Hero, Karen Ritchie. Story p. 10.
The @InteriorHealth magazine is a monthly publication created by the Communications Department of Interior Health. Past issues of @InteriorHealth can be found on our website under About Us/Media Centre/Publications & Newsletters. If you have story ideas for future issues, please e-mail: IHAcommunications@interiorhealth.ca Deadline for submissions to the September 2016 @InteriorHealth magazine is August 12. Editors: Amanda Fisher, Breanna Traynor Designer: Kara Visinski IH Communications Contributors: Lesley Coates, Susan Duncan, Patrick Gall, Karl Hardt, Megan Kavanagh, Erin Toews, Breanna Traynor, Tracy Watson
Every person matters
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lthough I have travelled across Interior Health many times over the years, a recent tour into the Cariboo Chilcotin was particularly revealing in terms of how we can improve health services from the perspective of the people we serve. This most obvious solution presented itself when IH Board Chair Erwin Malzer and I met directly with First Nations leaders and elders in eight communities and heard their concerns first-hand. It was clear to all of us involved that the best solutions occur when we engage directly with the people who use our services and are best able to identify the barriers. A lot of good work is already underway in our rural areas. We are building partnerships with civic governments, social agencies, and First Nation leadership. We are collaborating with physicians. We are talking to people about how they see the health system shifting so those who live outside of urban centres will also receive equitable health services. There is complex work to be done and it won’t be easy, but it will be a success story that changes health outcomes for our rural communities if we do it right and if we seek out the information we need from the right people.
CEO & President, Chris Mazurkewich
something the health authority can do alone. We need partners. Aboriginal populations in remote areas have specialized needs that health-care planners can only know about when we visit their communities. We will not understand the issues facing people who live hours away from health-care providers or medical facilities if we don’t engage personally with them. We cannot truly understand from a written report what it is like to regularly travel on back roads in all kinds of weather to reach a lab and then wait for your turn with an empty stomach because you have been fasting for 12 hours for accurate diabetes bloodwork. Understanding the unique background of the people we serve will also help us find the best direction for health services, which is why a cultural safety educator joined the IH Aboriginal Health team last year. Vanessa Mitchell has developed a powerful education session specifically for IH employees. The Senior Executive Team was fortunate enough to take part in a one-day workshop with Vanessa in May. This session will soon roll out to all staff, with the first site trial scheduled for Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake – for managers, Emergency Department staff, and physicians.
history and health-care experiences of Aboriginal people, this session with Vanessa adds valuable elements through the real-time, in-person format. Fortunately, efforts to find a better way to deliver health services have been ongoing for some time now and people are embracing this goal to shift primary care resources from hospital to home, across the primary care system. Some of our best examples of integrated community services and partnerships are already in place in rural settings. In the Kootenay Boundary, for example, the local Division of Family Practice, with IH, has led the way in building relationships between health-care staff, physicians, and local leaders. Engagement sessions are currently underway across the KB to identify how physicians, IH teams, and patients can work together to co-create strong primary care networks. (See the story about this engagement work on p. 6). In smaller sites, health services are integrated by virtue of their co-locations. A good example is the Kimberley Health Centre where Public Health, Home Health, Mental Health, and Primary Care providers are all co-located and focused on coordinated, patient-centred care.
It’s encouraging to see people uniting – be it physicians, Aboriginal leaders, The rural strategy is the most challenging community groups, or patients – on a and complex of our five strategies, but it common goal to renew the health-care is an essential piece of the puzzle to build system so everyone gets the care they vibrant, sustainable health services that Earlier this year, I joined more than 2,800 need regardless of where they live. suit each geographical area. IH employees who have taken the online Indigenous Cultural Competency training Our commitment to implement a renewed (available since 2009). While the PHSA system of care for rural B.C. is not module offers great insight into the
Engaging Work
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n the Kootenay Boundary, the first essential steps toward developing primary care homes are underway. That initial work begins with community engagement. Those two words also encompass a wide range of voices, all of which must be heard and included if a primary care home model is to succeed.
It may not sound extraordinary, but it’s crucial to ensuring this new way of providing holistic, full-service primary care to large groups of patients is done right. Primary care homes (PCH) will incorporate an interprofessional team of health-care providers who will meet the primary care needs of the community population by providing continuity of care, access to a full menu of quality primary care services and, as required, timely access to specialized health-care services. PCH’s are relatively new to B.C., but are the face of the primary care system in Alberta and across the ocean in the United Kingdom. Northern Health is the first health authority in B.C. to begin implementing a primary care home that has the essential components. Within Interior Health, progressive work toward developing a primary care home is taking place in the Kootenay Boundary between the area’s Division of Family Practice and IH leaders. Health authorities and family physicians have traditionally operated at a distance from each other. In recent years, though, partnerships have developed between the Ministry of Health and the Doctors of BC through the General Practice Services Committee, which has representation from both. That same co-operative approach is what has solidified ongoing progress in the Kootenay Boundary. “Somewhere along the line we recognized we had the same goals,” says Cheryl Whittleton, Kootenay Boundary Health Services Administrator. “We agreed we are all in this boat together.” With that realization, the area’s Collaborative Services Committee (CSC), which is co-chaired between Cheryl and Division Physician Lead Dr. Lee McKay, began working on ways of jointly caring for patients with complex, chronic health conditions.
L-R: Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice Physician Lead Dr. Lee McKay, Kootenay-Boundary Health Services Administrator Cheryl Whittleton, and KB Division’s Executive Director Andrew Earnshaw are working together to develop primary care homes that best serve the area’s health needs.
Now, the CSC is looking to expand those partnerships through a primary care home model, which has a patient medical home at its core. Inside that medical home is the physician, patient, and family with links to
KB physicians and Interior Health staff attend engagement sessions to collaborate on enhanced primary care services.
specialized clinics, specialists, community programming, and residential support and in-home treatment services. Andrew Earnshaw, Executive Director of the KB Division of Family Practice, explains that the attributes and services incorporated in each PCH are the ingredients, but the actual creation will be the result of collaborative work by a number of partners. “People who live in the local communities have to have a sense of ownership in the primary care home. We won’t be able to deliver a successful primary care home on government involvement alone. Each one has to be designed on the ground from the forces within.” Community meetings have begun across the Kootenay Boundary with physicians, community leaders, and IH front-line and managerial Nursing and Allied Health staff being asked to identify how they want the process of engagement to occur. The CSC's first round of engagement with physicians in the communities of Castlegar, Boundary, and Trail saw strong attendance and cautious optimism from the doctors in attendance. “All appreciate the opportunity that functional team-based primary care offers for improved population health and health system sustainability in the face of the pressures associated with an aging population," says Andrew. Twelve to 15 sessions in five different areas will allow discussions to occur about what is happening in the health-care landscape, what opportunities are available to strengthen primary care, and also detect whether essential players are motivated to take part in a system change, Cheryl adds. Dr. McKay says it’s important that physicians want to take a leadership role in the development of primary care homes, and that is more likely to occur if they believe that the outcome will make primary health care more effective for their patients, and result in fewer visits to the hospital. Partnership work between the KB Division of Family Practice and Interior Health employees over the past several years has set the stage for ongoing collaboration for establishing the first primary care homes in Interior Health.
Dr. Deanne Taylor is the new Director of Interior Health’s Research Department.
or Dr. Deanne Taylor, everything starts with a question. It doesn’t matter whether she is reading an autobiography or visiting rural health-care sites, research questions form in her brain. And that’s probably a good way to think when you are the Director of Interior Health’s Research Department, especially one who is bursting with enthusiasm about what she can learn from other people and also what she, in turn, can bring back to them. She believes the best research comes from lived experiences.
After Deanne started in her new role on June 3, she began site visits to different parts of the area that Interior Health serves. “I was introduced to the concept of how rurality affects care and the interesting and innovative ways to look at rurality from the academic, health, and lived perspective.” People in rural sites provide a continuum of care from birth to aging and, despite obstacles that occur because of their distance from urban centres, they have come up with innovative solutions to fill those gaps, she says. “I want to learn from them. A research department’s role is to learn from these areas and support research, which is not just doing research, but to form research questions. We look at a piece of knowledge that may work in one area and not another and ask why.”
“I’m an autobiography nut – Winston Churchill, Helen Keller, Ghandi – all typically with a social justice theme. I like to read about people, understand how they were in their natural life, and how they were able to do great things.” L.M. Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables and many other series, is another favourite author. Dee was intrigued by her diaries and the way she coped with the enormous difficulties in her life, which bore no resemblance to the sunny world of her literary characters. Important questions arise out of books and conversations, she finds, and most often those questions are related to health care and the interrelationship with social issues, specifically marginalized and vulnerable populations like the frail elderly.
She spent eight years in Fraser Health in residential care where her job focused on staff engagement and quality. “I developed close-knit relationships with the people at all sites and I was able to cross-pollinate information from site to site. As well, the interaction through various levels of leadership taught me a lot about how decisions are made and how they land in the real world sense.” Dee has worked in a variety of roles in health care and research including as an exercise therapist, a disability management consultant, and project leader for research. Her work in residential care formed the foundation of her doctoral dissertation, which was on residents’ interpretation of their experience of care.
“Her focus on patient experience is one that aligns well with our organization priorities and is one that we believe will help her successfully lead the overall research strategy Deanne, who is known as Dee to her friends and colleagues, in IH,” says Glenn McRae, Chief Nursing Officer and says she is so fascinated by research and how it plays into Professional Practice Lead. everything from leadership to front-line work that it pretty much consumes her whole world. Dee says she is enjoying working with other sectors of care in her new role. “My husband had to remind me that I do have a couple of hobbies. We renovate our homes and I like doing the “I see the research that is going on in acute and I am electrical work, not the complex stuff, but I enjoy rewiring learning about those problems now. I have enjoyed learning the plugs and light switches,” she says. how each continuum relates and how they deal with very similar issues.” As well, she is mother to two sons, 20 and 22, and has two dogs (a Maltese and a Rottweiler), a cat, and fish. What is also exciting for her is the outside knowledge she They recently rehomed their ferrets. is able to bring to IH through research. Dee also reads more than just research journals, although those are a staple in her life as well.
“I have access to amazing research minds all over the world.”
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s a Home Health nurse and educator, Karen Ritchie believes home is best when it comes to caring for people in all stages of life. Her commitment to this philosophy and life-long dedication to providing the highest standard of health care are why she was named the 2016 Health Care Hero for Interior Health at the 10th annual BC Health Care Awards on June 27. Those who’ve had the privilege of working with Karen, think of her as something of a “nursing expert.” Her philosophy is that care is most effective if it can be safely provided at home with care planning that supports self-determination for clients and family member involvement. As a Home Care and Home Health educator, she has shared this philosophy with the thousands of nurses she has taught and mentored.
Karen Ritchie (R) with her manager Karen Carniello after receiving the Health Care Hero Award.
We are incredibly proud of all the BC Health Care Award nominees in IH this year. A total of nine inspiring individuals were nominated for their creativity, inspiration, and dedication to health care. In addition to Karen, we had nominations for:
Health Care Hero:
Orysya Fetterly – nominated by Chantel Au Sandra Semograd – nominated by Sarah Farmer Alison Sheridan – nominated by Nicole Schneider-MacRae Laurie Matthies – nominated by Shelley LeFranc
Collaborative Solutions:
Patty Garrett – nominated by Givonna Debruin Rae Samson – nominated by Carol Laberge Kate Dusik – nominated by Elizabeth Harris
Top Innovation:
Heather Deegan – nominated by Cheryl Sidenberg
Karen started her nursing career in the surgical unit at Cranbrook Regional Hospital almost 40 years ago. In that time she has dedicated herself to ensuring clients receive exceptional care in their homes. Karen is known for her ability to make the best – and the most – of whatever life sends her way. Colleagues recall one incident when she was in Sparwood for the day, completing chart reviews at the health centre. When it was time to make the two-hour drive home to Kimberley, the highway was closed by a terrible traffic accident. It was Friday afternoon and Karen had been working all day, but her colleagues were not surprised to find her in scrubs assisting the Emergency Department team in caring for the injured before she could begin her long journey home. Our heartfelt congratulations on your Gold Apple Award, Karen! Thank you for your inspirational leadership, can-do attitude, and a nursing philosophy that maximizes self-determination and independence for patients and clients. Read more about Karen’s award in the announcement from CEO Chris Mazurkewich or visit BC Health Care Awards. To view videos of the winners, visit BC Health Care Awards YouTube channel.
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any of us would rather not consider our inevitable dying day. Others have strong ideas about what we would like that death to look like.
In 2013, the Ministry of Health committed to improving end-of-life care in B.C. by doubling the number of hospice beds by 2020. As part of this goal, Interior Health plans to designate 51 beds as palliative – in some cases, in partnership with hospice societies – in a phased approach over the next three years. The plans include 18 community hospice beds to be located in residential care facilities, and 33 within hospitals.
patients for some time during their illness and at the end of their lives. Patients and families will see clinicians working with them who have up-to-date education and training in palliative care; who know the principles and understand the practice of palliative and end-of-life care.
“The introduction of these designated hospice beds means palliative patients will have priority access. This is an important step in our efforts to provide timely, well-coordinated, compassionate end-of-life care in the community,” says Kathy Chouinor, Planning Director, Home Dr. Alan Nixon at Penticton’s Moog and Friends Hospice House, Health. standing with memorial plaques that line the gardens. Dr. Nixon
“Beds are not the whole answer. The whole answer includes education, having local champions of palliative care in each community, and coordination of care throughout the continuum. For example, having patients able to transfer easily from home, to a dedicated bed in a hospice or residential care, or to hospital and then home again – with a care team providing appropriate supports along the entire journey. “The ideal is for people to die at home, but often patients are so complex at end of life that is not possible. But we want them to be as close to home as possible.”
Education plays a fundamental role in enhancing care, and has already begun across Interior Health. In April 2016 a number of staff and physicians received five full is IH’s new Palliative Care Medical Director, a role created and While the bed planning days of training in Castlegar, funded as part of our palliative/end-of-life strategy. is great news for patients Kamloops, and Kelowna. and loved ones, it’s important to note it is only one part Others have taken the Learning Essentials Approach to of the solution. Interior Health’s palliative strategy is an Palliative Care (LEAP) course set by Pallium Canada. ambitious plan that includes broad system changes. “Patients and their families need to have options,” says An important piece of the strategy was the creation of a Kathy. “This is increasingly important as our society ages regional Palliative Care Medical Director position. Dr. Alan and we see more patients with highly complex, chronic Nixon joined Interior Health in this new role on May 2. conditions. There are some areas of excellence within Interior Health – this plan draws on those areas. We “The plan here is very exciting. Education and coordination are working to build expertise and offer access to quality are the foundation for this work,” he says. “It’s about palliative care and end-of-life care creating a community of care through all the different in all communities.” layers of palliative and end-of-life care. To learn more about palliative care in “Palliative care can extend deeply into the end stages of Interior Health, visit the Palliative many chronic diseases – cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and End-Of-Life pages under Your dementia. We will have the opportunity to follow these Care at www.interiorhealth.ca.
LEANMACHINE S
Building expertise from within
o often, the challenge in health care is not just in implementing new or refined approaches and ideas to provide better patient care, but in supporting employees to sustain those changes.
Investing in more resources isn’t always the answer. For Interior Health’s Lean Promotion Office (LPO), the solution has come from building leadership capacity from within the organization. That’s why the LPO is celebrating those 22 individuals who have achieved certification as Lean Implementation Specialists (LIS). Having successfully completed their Workshop Lead and Team Lead apprentice roles, these committed leaders continue to coach staff in adopting everyday Lean ideas, support staff through daily Lean Management practices, and continue to build their Lean expertise by leading Rapid Process Improvement Workshops (RPIWs) across IH.
noticed a marked change in ability for staff and leaders to use a common language and emphasize the need for leaders to go to the place where the work is done.” So what is Lean, anyway? At the heart of it, Lean is a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste in our health-care processes that add to or create wait times, or mistakes that make their way to patients, impacting them in some way, big or small. It’s a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving, and it involves and includes the employees who touch the patients, and the patients themselves. “The simple things that can make a difference are often overlooked,” says Renee. “Many times, employees have great ideas to improve processes for their patients or themselves, but are not sure how to test their theories or share their ideas.”
To increase the number of people employing Lean across Interior Health, the LPO, under the guidance of IH Transformation, Innovation and Change, began certifying Lean Implementation Specialists in December 2013. Susan Brown, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, “If leaders and staff have a detailed understanding of what Hospitals and Communities, was among the first cohort of the framework provides and the level of support required to those 22 who have been certified. Another 23 leaders are sustain improvement gains, the improvements will be much more successful and belong to the right people. We have in the process of completing their LIS certification, and two “The intent for this is to create capacity in the system and help guide sites to lead their own Lean improvements,” says Renee Caillier, Leader of the Lean Promotion Office.
Above: Patti Martin, Lean Consultant (L), is happy to be supporting Robyn Sofonoff, manager for Medical and Oncology at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail, as she progresses through Lean Implementation Specialist certification. Right: Renee Caillier, Leader of the Lean Promotion Office (L), and Carol Laberge, Health Services Administrator at Royal Inland Hospital, work together to help staff create Lean work areas.
others are focusing on their Lean Leader Certification. Carol Laberge, Health Services Administrator at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, is an LIS graduate who says she now applies a Lean lens to nearly everything she does. It’s valuable, she says, because it helps enhance quality improvement and improves patient care with little added cost. Moreover, it provides an opportunity to involve both staff and patients in the process – to give them a voice. “I am a firm believer that staff have many great ideas to improve their work and work environments. We just need to ask them for their ideas, and then help them test and implement them,” Carol says. For example, Daycare Surgery at Royal Inland was challenged by overstocking of linen bundles, and they were being stashed everywhere, creating a space issue. The solution, as proposed by staff? A folding table was set up with an appropriate storage spot for the right amount of linens. Carol also shared examples of Lean work that is going into the move to the new Clinical Services Building (CSB) at RIH, which opens in August. Recently, staff who will be working in the CSB learned about process mapping. “Several great ideas were brought forward from this work that will help the patient flow in the new building,” says Carol. “For example, each clinic’s registration uses some form of community-wide scheduling. It brought forward a conversation around how we could standardize the process within Meditech and community-wide scheduling, thereby making for a more efficient patient registration and check-in process that may even eliminate some steps for staff.” The LIS program isn’t just for senior leaders, either. Robyn Sofonoff, manager for Medical and Oncology at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail, is in the process of taking the LIS certification. She was first exposed to Lean when she participated in an RPIW as a surgical floor nurse. “I was so empowered and engaged with the changes and improvements we were able to implement within that one week, that I have been wanting to share this with my staff ever since,” says Robyn. “Lean helps us have conversations to improve the care we provide to our patients by focusing solely on the process, and it is led by front-line staff.” The same staff who, in her area, have devised some smart ideas for communicating with each other – such as a white board on the housekeepers’ door on which information about pending discharges is written. “Now, the housekeepers know to clean the room and the nurse and housekeeper don’t have to wander around trying to find each other,” Robyn says. “This has not only cut down on waste, but has also increased morale as the housekeepers have started putting daily quotes on the board.” To learn more about Lean in Interior Health, visit the Transformation, Innovation and Change web page on InsideNet.
Certified Lean Implementation Specialists:
Susan Brown, VP & COO Shelley Smillie, SOK QI Consultant & Manager Lori Motluk, NOK/SOK Executive Director Pat Breakey, PRH Manager Sharon Cook, COK Executive Director Bev Sieker, KGH Director Nicky Deakin, KGH Manager Dr. Mike Ertel, KGH Chief of Staff Dr. Bryan Tighe, PRH Medical Director Janine Johns, Network Director James Chan, IH East & Central Quality Manager Carol Laberge, RIH Health Services Administrator Heather Cook, IH West Executive Director Christiana Stevens, Corporate Director TIC Richard Harding, NOK Health Services Administrator John Cabral, KGH Director Deb Austin, Golden/Invermere Director Ben Rhebergen, Interim Network Director Gail Brown, Director of Initiatives, Hospitals and Communities Jane Cusden, KBH Director Brigitte McDonough, KB Health Services Administrator Sherri Lampman, LPO Lean Consultant
Lean Implementation Specialist Certification in Progress:
Andrew Hughes, KGH Health Services Administrator Aaron Miller, Director, Strategic Initiatives and Southern Medical Program Operational Liaison Dr. Ron Collins, Executive Medical Director Sandra McLean, VJH Manager Jody Pistak, KB Quality Improvement Consultant Genevieve Nice, VJH Manager Nancy Thomas, KGH Senior Planner Claire Johnston, KGH Manager Thalia Vesterback, KLH/BDH Director Cindy Ferguson, KBH Manager Tracey Rannie, RIH Director Terry Wudrich, LPO Coordinator Lesley McLeod, RIH Manager Naomi Erickson, IH West Quality Manager Suzanne Gardner-Clark, RIH Director Lynn Gerein, VJH Director Lori Mitchell, EK CIHS Manager Karyn Morash, EKH Director Leslie Murphy, VJH Manager Krista Osmond, KBH Educator Deb Runge, SOGH/PRH Director Robyn Sofonoff, KGH Manager Jen Wright, Project Coordinator Acute Services
Lean Leader Certification in Progress:
Greg Cutforth, Regional Director Allied Health Donna Lineker, RIH Manager
Brenda Morrow, Community Health Nurse @IH: What is your role in IH? I am a case manager for home support services and a home care nurse providing hands-on care. This combined role is relatively new – about three or four years.
@IH: What type of services do you
provide? The type of services in home care nursing range from wound care, IV infusion for antibiotics, medications for MS and rheumatoid arthritis, subcutaneous injections, phlebotomies (surgical puncture in a vein), and palliative care. Case management includes assessing for home support services, referral to other agencies, and providing information and direction to clients and families on where to access provincial and federal sources of support. Another part of case management is applying for client placement in assisted living or residential care. Access to adult day program is through our department, as is accessing flexible short stay beds for respite for family members. Another major part of both roles is to liaise with physicians and other health professionals.
@IH: Why is your role important? Our role is important as it helps clients stay in their own homes for longer instead of in care facilities; it also helps prevent hospital admissions and allows for earlier hospital discharge. The treatments provided in the ambulatory nursing clinic relieve the emergency department markedly.
@IH: What makes for a really great day at work?
A good day at work is being able to match/meet a client’s needs and see them improve. Working with the families of clients is often interesting and it is rewarding when you receive thanks for all the work that is done on behalf of their family member.
@IH: What is the best thing about your job?
The greatest thing about where I work is my fellow staff – the RNs, LPNs, and support staff. We have a wonderful, It is important to me personally because I believe most people supportive team that works hard to do a good job for our recover better in their own environment and are happier at clients. Also, the cooperation from the community therapists home managing their own care on familiar grounds. and discharge planner all help.
Creston Valley Hospital & Health Centre
63
Age of building
6
Full-time community health nurses
60-70 16 50 Average number of clients as a full-time case manager
Nominate a colleague, manager, or site for a future spotlight.
Total beds
Percentage of surgical day care cases age 65+
118
Employees at CVH
Kimberley Submitted by: Mandy White
Coldstream Submitted by: Sherry Keeley Nelson Submitted by: Betty Kennedy-Popoff
Cache Creek Submitted by: Marilyn Illner
Where We Live & Work ... A Spotlight on Our Communities Covering more than 215,000 square kilometres, Interior Health is diverse in nature and composed of vibrant urban centres and unique rural communities. Photos are submitted by employees and posted to the InsideNet. Select photos are featured in @IH.
Submit your photos of the beautiful places that make up IH on InsideNet Spotlight Photos.
The countdown is on for the opening of Royal Inland Hospital’s new Clinical Services Building (CSB), which will see its first patients pass through the doors on Aug. 15. Almost as exciting for users of the Kamloops-area hospital will be the opening of the new parkade on July 25, situated below the CSB. Communications officers Susan Duncan (L) and Michaela Swan stand beside the countdown clock that was officially unveiled by Health Minister Terry Lake and MLA Todd Stone at a ceremony on June 2. The clock is continuing its countdown at a prime location along the hospital’s main corridor.
Maddie and Elliot Roscoe raised $33 for the pediatric unit Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital. These generous young siblings played music for donations on their neighbourhood corner in Rossland. Trish Thomson, Manager of the Maternal Child Services & Inpatient Surgical Unit says, “We are so proud of the commitment our community has for our little patients!"
For the past two years, Penticton Regional Hospital candy stripers Manreet Mangat and Chelsea Maxted have combined their birthdays to raise money for those in need. This year, the two young women decided to collect toys and games for children at the hospital. Thanks to the generosity of their friends and family they were able to raise more than $450 and collected bags full of teddy bears, story books, pencil crayons, and many other items.
Help spread awareness of heart disease in our communities – it could save your life or the life of someone you love. Watch and #sharePetersStory. Learn more at petersstory.ca.
Advance care planning is the process of thinking about, and writing down, your wishes or instructions for future health-care treatment in the event you become incapable of deciding for yourself. This video provides information about the advance care planning options available to capable adults in B.C. Learn more at gov.bc.ca/advancecare.
Kayla takes her younger brother Nate back in time to show him how racism started in Canada. Learn the history to inform yourself about racism in Canada. Learn more at www.indigenousyouthwellness.ca/ cuystwi.