Several Interior Health Authority directors presented an online check-up on current health services to the Columbia Shuswap Regional District Board meeting on Jan. 16.
Chris Simms, executive director of clinical operations with the North Okanagan & Emergency Services Network, was accompanied by clinical leaders in primary and community care, mental health and substance use, long-term and acute care
鈥淲hat we鈥檇 like to do is really go an inch deep and a mile wide to give you a perspective of the health services that are provided,鈥� he said, noting each member of of the leadership team would speak further to their own area.
Angela Szabo, director of clinical operations, North Okanagan Community, provided an overview of Interior Health's (IH) Home and Community Care Services that cover palliative care, home-based seniors care, home support, adult day services, ambulatory care and more provided by a diverse group of professionals.
She noted IH is excited about a new partnership that has been formed with the Shuswap Hospice Society鈥檚 Community Feasibility Committee, which is looking to explore the option for a hospice centre in Salmon Arm.
The Home and Community Care Services team currently provides end-of-life and palliative care at home, in long-term care facilities and in Shuswap Lake General Hospital, with an average of two to five home deaths per month. The team also supports the Medical Assistance in Dying Program.
Care is provided 365 days of the year to some 600 community members in Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Malakwa, Mara and the South Shuswap, and IH contracts with other organizations to augment services provided to patients whose needs are increasingly more complex.
The number of available long-term care beds has increased, with a significant reduction in wait times for those requiring assisted living or long-term care services, she said, noting IH has been able to increase staff and has recently added overnight home support.
Szabo said Home and Community Care Services work collaboratively to provide a single point of contact for patients and their families.
In terms of hospital care, Alicia Ponich, Shuswap Lake General's Director of Clinical Operations, noted the hospital has a maximum capacity of 46 beds. She provided numbers of available spaces in maternity, cardiac care, emergency services, isolation and trauma. She also spoke to a variety of outpatient services provided at SLGH, many of them in the new Ambulatory Care Unit near the Emergency Department.
Key initiatives over past year have been ensuring people in the emergency department are admitted when needed, managing over capacity when there are more beds than funding provided, expanding services in the Ambulatory Care Unit, which which received a $250,000 boost from the Shuswap Hospital Foundation thanks to last year鈥檚 Bollywood Bang, and collaborating with Community Services on discharging patients from the hospital.
Darren Klassen, director clinical operations, Primary Care & Public Health, told directors his team collaborates with all other primary healthcare providers in IH to sustain and support primary care across the region.
Three goals include narrowing the patient gap so every resident has access to a primary care provider on a continuing basis, implementing team-based care and enhance same-day access to service.
Klassen said a Provincial Attachment System includes a Health Connect Registry where B.C. residents can indicate they are looking for a healthcare provider. He added that about 1,200 people between Sorrento and Revelstoke are currently on the registry and waiting to be matched with doctors.
Two new doctors from Kenya have begun practising and are accepting new patients, one in Sicamous and the other in Enderby, and the health authority is actively recruiting nurse practitioners.
Klassen also addressed public health goals in areas of maternal, child and family health, healthy schools and communicable disease prevention.
Megan Thorne, director of clinical operations, Mental Health & Substance Use, provided an overview of the many services provided, including counselling, treatment and recovery support and seniors mental health.
She noted the only access for people in need of acute mental health care is in Vernon where 27 beds are funded. Psychiatry services are provided by 13 psychiatrists both in acute care and in community. Relatively new, the Integrated Child and Youth Team is a collaboration between the health authority and School District 83.
Following the presentation, CSRD directors asked questions about accurate data on immunizations, how people can get on the registry for a doctor if they do not have computers and when and why people are transferred to Kamloops rather than Vernon.
In response to the question of destination, Klassen said a number of factors are involved, including highway condition, level of care provided on scene, level of care required and basically getting the patient to hospital as quickly as possible.
