Devon is a peer worker who provides overdose prevention and harm reduction supports to those living in shelters and supportive housing. As someone who had his own life saved at an overdose prevention site, he understands the value of these services and it’s important to him that others understand the facts.

The health-care professionals at the Cranbrook Urgent and Primary Care Centre will provide a team-based care approach at the new clinic, located in the Baker Street Professional Centre in Cranbrook. Nurse practitioner Tara Fiedler-Graham is pictured second from right.   Having been a nurse for nearly 30 years and a nurse practitioner for 10 more, Tara Fiedler-Graham is used to caring for people.  For most of her career, that’s happened in Cranbrook, where she has worked directly with vulnerable populations and helped people suffering from mental health or substance use issues.  And now she is putting her considerable experience towards a new health centre as a nurse practitioner at the new Cranbrook Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC), opening Dec. 8. 2021. The clinic, located in the Baker Street Professional Centre, will feature a team of skilled health-care professionals, from nurse practitioners and family physicians to social workers, physiotherapists and more. It’s the team aspect of the new Urgent and Primary Care Centre that has Tara feeling optimistic for her hometown. Once a patient attends the centre, it will be determined which health-care professional is best to support their care. “I’m most excited about the team-based care aspect, recognizing that people have many different needs when they come to access care,” she says. “We have lots of very skilled health-care professionals who can treat people. It’s going to be good to see.”     The Cranbrook UPCC is the seventh such centre to open in Interior Health, joining those already established in Castlegar, Penticton, Vernon, West Kelowna, Kelowna and Kamloops.  The Cranbrook centre will open in a phased approach. As more staff are hired, the hours of operation will increase. Eventually the UPCC will be open seven days a week including weekends and holidays.  “Providing more access to health care, especially some extended hours beyond the traditional 9 to 5 coverage we have in Cranbrook, will be great for the community,” says Tara, who went to elementary and high school in Cranbrook and started her nursing training in the community as well. Urgent and primary care centres are designed with input from local health-care professionals and are tailored to the community in which they operate. In Cranbrook, there are plans to have maternity care offered in the future, something that is needed in the area, says Tara. It will also look to connect people to a primary care provider once it is fully up and running. The Cranbrook UPCC came together with the support of partners from the East Kootenay Division of Family Practice, the Kootenay East Regional Hospital District, and the Ktunaxa Nation along with the Ministry of Health and Interior Health. Completing the centre on time was challenging due to the damage caused to B.C. travel routes in the recent flooding and the impact on the flow of goods throughout the province. But IH capital projects teams worked through the night in the weeks leading up to the opening, to be sure everything was in place for IH’s seventh UPCC to open. The new centre will treat people with urgent health concerns, issues that needs to be treated within 12 to 24 hours but do not require a trip to the emergency department. In Cranbrook, appointments upon opening will be by drop in. Learn more about urgent and primary care centres here. 

We are IH is a recognition campaign to spotlight Interior Health employees and medical staff – through pictures and stories. Name: Dr. Alan Ruddiman (He/Him) Job Title: Rural Generalist Physician (GP)  Years of Service: 25 Historical IH Worksite: South Okanagan General Hospital Community: Oliver Ancestral Territory: Syilx NationFavourite Quote: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” - Anon (attributed as an African proverb). Dr. Alan Ruddiman is an internationally trained rural generalist physician, living and working in Oliver, on the traditional lands and territories of the Syilx Okanagan First Nations. He is a passionate advocate and voice on equity in health-care delivery, medical professionalism, governance, medical quality improvement, digital health and virtually enabled care.  “I was taught to value and embrace service,” says Alan. “Service to one's patients, to one's community, and within one's broader sphere of influence. Having had a full and rewarding career in rural medicine in Canada, with the last 25 of those years in the south Okanagan, I have made so many connections locally, regionally and provincially." "For me, it’s always been about the relationships – the opportunity to contribute towards meaningful local and system changes within health care in British Columbia.” Born in Scotland, Alan’s formative years were shaped in South Africa. He earned his medical degree, a Bachelors of Medicine & Surgery, at Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, graduating in 1989. This valuable experience sparked within his career efforts championing on matters of social justice, advocating for vulnerable peoples, and seeking out equity within health-care delivery. Alan immigrated to Canada, first settling in Saskatchewan in 1991 to pursue service in rural generalist medicine, then later moving west to British Columbia, and Oliver, in 1996. He and his wife Christina raised two daughters in Oliver, the youngest of whom was born at the local community hospital. The bulk of Alan’s professional career has been dedicated to service as a rural GP, in the community and through a rewarding career on staff at the South Okanagan General Hospital (SOGH). He has served as president of SOGH Medical Staff, with two terms as Chief of Medical Staff.  One of Alan’s proudest moments at Interior Health was during his 2005 to 2010 tenure as Chief of Medical Staff. SOGH was the first Canadian hospital – and a rural hospital at that – to achieve Stage 6 Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Adoption recognition from HIMSS Analytics.  “This was a really significant accomplishment and recognition for an amazing and dedicated clinical team who I worked with and alongside,” says Alan.  In 2015, Alan was also elected by his 12,000 provincial peers and colleagues as the incoming President of Doctors of BC. “It was an amazing and most rewarding three-year appointment cycle,” he says. “It rolled over to current appointments and provincial lead roles I have today.” He transitioned away from full-time GP clinical practice in 2018, following his Doctors of BC presidency. Alan’s notable medical contributions within the South Okanagan community are now supplemented by his further responsibilities as a Director for the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc), and, Provincial Co-Chair for the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues (the JSC). Alan has been very busy supporting Interior Health’s COVID-19 immunization program by providing active clinical support and in-clinic service across IH’s rural communities. Since March 2021 he has provided more than 3,000 unique COVID-19 immunizations to the public!  Today, Alan is a recognized physician leader, a health-care strategist, a health policy knowledge expert, and an active proponent for positive transformation within Canada’s publicly funded health-care system. He interacts regularly with teams and leaders from across B.C.’s health-care system including senior government members, the health authorities, Doctors of BC, UBC Faculty of Medicine, B.C.’s rural communities, and linked health-care sectors and partners. Dr. Alan Ruddiman and his family with their restored 1976 Volkswagen camper bus. In his personal time, Alan and his wife Christina are keen adventurous travellers. They have lovingly restored a 1976 Volkswagen camper bus in which they journey throughout B.C. They are also keen and very active sailors. “We love spending days and nights out on Lake Okanagan, finding a quiet anchorage to hunker down in, and enjoy amazing sunrises and sunsets.” Stay updated with careers at Interior Health Facebook: Interior Health  |   Instagram: interiorhealthbc |   LinkedIn: Interior Health Authority

Audiologist Jowan Lee of St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver is working with Interior Health patients to adjust their cochlear implants with digital health technology.   Ponderosa Lodge social worker Shirley Shanks could not believe it when she got a call setting up a virtual audiology appointment for one of her long-term care clients with a malfunctioning cochlear implant. Rather than going to Vancouver, Cathy, who uses a wheelchair, was transported five minutes away to the virtual care clinic at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.  By video, an audiologist, located 450 kilometres away at St. Paul’s Hospital, was able to make crucial adjustments to the cochlear implant, an electronic device that is situated under the skin behind the ear to help restore hearing.  The implants are a miracle for people with hearing impairments who need more than a hearing aid. However, for Cathy, her cochlear implant had not been adjusted since 2018 so she was back to reading notes from people trying to communicate with her. “I was so excited to get that call,” said Shirley. “I had been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to get Cathy to Vancouver. To be able to have this virtual care appointment is amazing.” Cathy, sitting, is ready for her virtual appointment with Vancouver audiologist Jowan Lee (on screen). In back is RIH virtual care coordinator Haillie McBoyle. When Cathy and Shirley arrived at the clinic on Dec. 1, virtual care co-ordinator Haillie McBoyle guided them into a room where audiologist Jowan Lee was smiling at them from a computer screen. Several Tupperware containers filled with programming pods completed the equipment needed for the video appointment, anticipated to last an hour and a half to two hours. She was the second patient of the day.  “Our other patient was so pleased at the end of his appointment. He actually cried happy tears that he didn’t have to travel to Vancouver for the adjustments,” said Haillie. During the appointment, the audiologist directs the patient on which pod to select and attach to his or her sound processor. By using remote access technology, the audiologist is able to take control of the programming software on the RIH laptop, enabling the patient’s sound processor settings to be optimized.  These Tupperware containers are filled with pods that the audiologist uses to adjust the patient’s cochlear implant. These local appointments are part of St. Paul’s Hospital’s Cochlear Implant Remote Mapping Service Pilot Project, which began in Island Health but recently expanded to Interior Health where the vast geography makes digital health care crucial technology. After being contacted by St. Paul’s to participate as a second proof site, Interior Health’s virtual care team chose RIH because of its proximity to northern B.C. and because RIH had staffing in place to support the clinic. “Kamloops was the best location for a wider range of patients who aren’t able to get to Vancouver. Patients from Prince George will also be able to come here,” said IH Virtual Care manager Shawn Berglund. Until the virtual option was introduced, the 181 patients in Interior Health and 30 in Northern Health were required to travel Vancouver at least once a year to have their cochlear implants adjusted by the specially trained audiologists. Cochlear implant testing is the newest addition to the rapidly expanding digital health programs in Interior Health and RIH Virtual Care analyst Bill Demuth is on the team overseeing it at RIH.  “Much of IT (information technology) is a supportive resource, but with virtual care, we impact patients in a positive way every day,” he said. “These programs that make a direct difference for patients are the ones I especially like.” At the moment, the appointments take place one day a month, but Bill hopes to see the appointments increase as more audiologists are trained to provide virtual care and patients experience the convenience and effectiveness of video sessions. Shawn said it’s also exciting to work on a program that is collaboration between several health organizations (IH, Providence and the Provincial Health Services Authority) and also multi-departmental.  “We are all working together on this supportive way for our clients to make their appointments. A lot of our patients weren’t getting it done for a variety of reasons – COVID-19, damaged highway system and also because they are too vulnerable to travel.” Cathy is one of those fragile patients who likely would not have been able to make it to Vancouver.  Instead, she left her virtual appointment with better access to sound then when she arrived – a win for digital health, but mostly a win for Cathy. Shirley said she also came away with a win as part of Cathy’s care team. “Dr. Lee was able to educate me on how to help Cathy through more effective speech approaches and by providing information on the static she hears on a regular basis that I was not aware of.” She added that he also gave her other ideas on apps to use for communication. “All these care plan needs are vital to Cathy’s daily living and I am truly grateful for that.”  

Kari Wutzke is one of several members of the public lending their voices and perspectives to the design of a new Interior Health person-centred website.  Although her participation in this project began a year ago, she has a lifetime of experience as a patient and someone who uses InteriorHealth.ca to get health information and access services.  “I have lived with chronic pain for almost as long as I can remember, ever since a car accident when I was 12,” says Kari. “I first became interested in health-related websites as a patient looking for answers. As an adult I became very involved in pain-related support groups. I eventually moved into coaching others dealing with similar challenges and advocating for positive changes in health services.” 

We are IH is a recognition campaign to spotlight Interior Health employees and medical staff – through pictures and stories. Name: Tanya Zeron (she/her) Job Title: Rehabilitation Assistant Years of Service: 10 Worksite: Vernon Jubilee Hospital Community: Vernon Ancestral Territory: Syilx Okanagan Favourite Quote:“Ain't nothin' gonna to break my stride Nobody gonna slow me down, oh no I got to keep on movin'” – Matthew Wilder Tanya Zeron always tries to see the good in people and situations. Born and raised in Maple Ridge, Tanya moved to the Okanagan in 2004. As a rehabilitation assistant, Tanya’s inspiration are the people she cares for every day.  “No matter their ability, they continue to work towards their goals. And on the days they’re not strong, we can be strong for them.” Tanya loves working with older adults. “They have so much to share and I like to listen to their stories. They’ve usually already overcome so much in life.” Watching patients persevere through physical and emotional challenges makes Tanya proud of the work she and her team does.  “It’s nice to know we played a role in our patient’s rehabilitation, and are improving their quality of life.” The fresh air of fall, camping with her family and snowboard season are a few of Tanya’s favourite things. Tanya’s husband, Dallas, and two kids, Marty and Scottie, also enjoy hiking, canoeing, and mountain biking.  “Anything that gets my family and myself into nature,” she says. ________________________________________ Stay updated with careers at Interior Health Facebook  |   Instagram  |   LinkedIn

Jared Basil is a community wellness champion with the Ktunaxa Nation. His days are spent in service to the people of his community. He uses his lived experience and approachable manner to help others confidently navigate the health-care system. He also works with organizations like Interior Health to improve how services are delivered — so that everyone feels safe and respected.  “As an Indigenous man, I want to bridge the gap between non-Indigenous and Indigenous communities and strengthen the respect and relationship between my people and organizations like Interior Health,” says Jared.  Since 2020, Jared has contributed his time and perspective towards the creation of a person-centred Interior Health website.   

Cheyenne Fath is a youth and peer outreach worker and lived experience educator in Penticton. Through her experiences, she knows first hand how addiction impacts individuals, families, and whole communities.  The best way to tackle these issues, and to drive change for the better, is to do it together. And Cheyenne says that starts with thinking twice about how we view drug addiction by recognizing that addictive behaviour is more common than people realize. “We are all addicted to our own vices,” says Cheyenne, who works closely with Interior Health’s substance use team. “For some people it may look like too much caffeine, exercising beyond what's considered healthy, or overeating. Perhaps your thing is adrenaline and you indulge in risky stunts that no ‘normal’ person would do, or you impulsively lie to those around you, or maybe you just really like spending money.” Cheyenne adds that it’s good to be speaking about substance use because of its high propensity to lead to addictive behaviour. These are challenging times. But challenging times also brings out the best in communities – it rallies people to support those in crisis. It was with that in mind that Interior Health established Community Action Teams in nine communities: Cranbrook, Nelson, Castlegar, Grand Forks, Kamloops, Central Okanagan, Penticton, Vernon and Williams Lake.  These were established in response to the overdose crisis, recognizing that communities play a critical role in saving lives and connecting people to treatment and recovery. Community Action Teams target local resources where they are needed most and strengthen local partnerships. “By raising awareness about the far-reaching impacts of stigma and addiction, increasing education about how to access supports, and furthering our efforts to work alongside our community partners, we can change the narrative and help people on their journey to wellness,” says Debi Morris, network director for mental health and substance use in Interior Health. Says Cheyenne: “With the ongoing opioid epidemic now in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic and systems, services and individuals stretched and wearing thin, the drug overdose death toll is higher than ever and seems to be steadily increasing. It's time we stop turning our heads and closing our eyes to these issues." Visit Substance Use and Addiction to learn more. About National Addictions Awareness Week During National Addictions Awareness Week, Nov. 21-27, we are supporting the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction by highlighting resources about substance use and addiction treatment and supports. National Addictions Awareness Week is held annually, and focuses on highlighting solutions to help address the harms related to alcohol and other drug use. It provides an opportunity to learn more about prevention, to talk about treatment and recovery, and to bring forward solutions.  Join us this week as we post about different topics related to addiction, including stigma, alcohol, gambling, adverse childhood experiences, opioids, cannabis, and COVID-19 and mental health.  Follow the hashtag #NAAW2021 and help us spread the message that recovery is possible, addiction is a medical condition and not a choice, there is information available about treatment options, and how stigma plays a role as a barrier to care – a barrier that we can break down.  

We are IH is a recognition campaign to spotlight Interior Health employees and medical staff – through pictures and stories. Name: (John) Derrick Leblanc (he/him) Job Title: Housekeeping Supervisor Years of Service: 8.5 Worksite: Royal Inland Hospital Community: Kamloops Ancestral Territory: Secwépemc Nation Favourite Quote: "Treat everyone how you want to be treated." -Unknown Thanks to a good friend who endorsed his resume, Derrick Leblanc has been with Interior Health for almost nine years. In that time, his proudest moment, aside from being hired on, was his promotion to Housekeeping Supervisor. Derrick's family in Nova Scotia “I’ve always enjoyed helping others, and take pride in knowing that the career I’ve chosen allows me to do just that.” At one point, Derrick was even helping a friend with special need clients outside of Interior Health, finding it rewarding work. After training, Derrick eventually received his own clients. But it’s his role at Royal Inland Hospital that made the cut when he had to pull back on commitments and narrow his three jobs down to one. Derrick hails from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, calling himself “a hopeless romantic and a Maritimer.” Unsurprisingly, his greatest dream is live a long life and to retire by the ocean (after winning the lottery, of course!). Derrick’s family means everything to him – it’s hard being so far away, as he doesn’t get to see them nearly as much as he’d like. Derrick's puppy, Wall-E “I’m the eighth child out of nine so it’s a large family. We certainly know how to cook and eat seafood, as well as rappi pie.” For those not "in the know," rappi pie is a well-loved traditional Acadian dish. It’s a delicious mix of potatoes and chicken. Living in the beautiful Interior meshes well with Derrick’s love of the outdoors and taking nature photography. He also hikes, gardens and relaxes on his deck with his dog. View of Kamloops from Derrick's morning walk Derrick's nomination keeps the We Are IH loop going: “I would nominate Narinder Pannu. She works at Royal Inland Hospital and is a cleaner on 7 South. I would like to nominate her because you can always ask her to help with shortfalls and or move to another position within the department... She is very accountable at her job and you can be assured she gets her work done to standard. " - Derrick Leblanc Stay updated with careers at Interior Health Facebook: Interior Health  |   Instagram: interiorhealthbc |   LinkedIn: Interior Health Authority