Healthcare

The number of training spots for midwives at UBC will nearly double, the province announced Friday, going from20 to 48. (Black Press Media file photo)

Training spots for midwives in B.C. to nearly double amid provincial funding

The provincial government announced additional funding for B.C.’s only midwifery program at UBC

The number of training spots for midwives at UBC will nearly double, the province announced Friday, going from20 to 48. (Black Press Media file photo)
A total of 66 CareCorp Seniors Services workers in Vernon and Armstrong have a new three-year contract, approved by 91 per cent of members. CareCorp provides daily healthcare, food services, housekeeping, and laundry service to seniors in hospitals, care homes, and retirement residences. (Black Press - file photo)

North Okanagan seniors services workers ratify new contract

CareCorp employees in Vernon, Armstrong vote overwhelmingly in favour of three-year deal

A total of 66 CareCorp Seniors Services workers in Vernon and Armstrong have a new three-year contract, approved by 91 per cent of members. CareCorp provides daily healthcare, food services, housekeeping, and laundry service to seniors in hospitals, care homes, and retirement residences. (Black Press - file photo)
Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi. (BC Green Party handout photo)

Why a top B.C. heart surgeon quit for politics

‘I didn’t in good conscience think we were providing the best possible care to our patients anymore’

  • Feb 13, 2023
Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi. (BC Green Party handout photo)
A view of the exterior of the emergency department at the Arrow Lakes Hospital. (Black Press Media file photo)

Concerns raised after man dies on B.C. hospital doorstep

Nakusp man’s family drove him to the hospital after an ambulance took too long to arrive

  • Feb 13, 2023
A view of the exterior of the emergency department at the Arrow Lakes Hospital. (Black Press Media file photo)
B.C. health minister Adrian Dix calls on Ottawa to improve its health care offer, while echoing the conciliatory tone of Premier David Eby. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

‘I’m not going to be negative, but they have to do better’: Dix on federal health offer

Health care minister Adrian Dix calls on feds to improve offer of $600 million to B.C.

B.C. health minister Adrian Dix calls on Ottawa to improve its health care offer, while echoing the conciliatory tone of Premier David Eby. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
Official Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon of the B.C. Liberals said B.C. health care system is getting worse after the release of a study that shows British Columbians waited 79 minutes to a see walk-in-clinic doctor. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

B.C. has the 2nd worst wait times for walk-in clinics across Canada: Survey

B.C. residents waited 79 minutes to see a walk-in physician in 2022

Official Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon of the B.C. Liberals said B.C. health care system is getting worse after the release of a study that shows British Columbians waited 79 minutes to a see walk-in-clinic doctor. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
People working in long-term care have filed the most approved COVID-19 compensation claims to WorkSafeBC since 2020, out of all the different work sectors in B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

More than 15,000 COVID compensation claims approved for B.C. workers since 2020

Vast majority of claims to WorkSafeBC come from health-care sector

People working in long-term care have filed the most approved COVID-19 compensation claims to WorkSafeBC since 2020, out of all the different work sectors in B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
An assistant nursing professor at the University of New Brunswick says there is a crisis-level shortage of sexual assault nurse examiners in the country. A nurse tends to a patient at the Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia, Ont., on Wednesday, Jan, 26, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

As sexual assault rates rise, provinces face shortages of specially trained nurses

Many forensic nurse positions are only offered casually, making it unrealistic for many to take on

An assistant nursing professor at the University of New Brunswick says there is a crisis-level shortage of sexual assault nurse examiners in the country. A nurse tends to a patient at the Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia, Ont., on Wednesday, Jan, 26, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Parents of two-year-old Gracie Ackley said her condition steadily worsened while they spent hours waiting for assistance at the Langley Memorial Hospital ER on Jan. 26. (Ackley family - used with permission)

Parents say they waited hours for help at B.C. ER while their daughter’s condition worsened

‘What is wrong with our health care system?’ mom asks

Parents of two-year-old Gracie Ackley said her condition steadily worsened while they spent hours waiting for assistance at the Langley Memorial Hospital ER on Jan. 26. (Ackley family - used with permission)
Armstrong Spallumcheen Haugen Community Healthcare Society president Sandra Borden (left) joins Dr. Kira McClellan in celebrating 14 years of operating the Haugen Medical Group office on Smith Drive Tuesday, Jan. 31. While smiles abounded at the celebration, the society is facing some financial concerns, and is looking for support from the communities of Armstrong and Spallumcheen. (Roger Knox - Morning Star)

Armstrong healthcare society celebrates 14 years while masking concerns

Faced with an office rental increase, society turns to communities for financial support

Armstrong Spallumcheen Haugen Community Healthcare Society president Sandra Borden (left) joins Dr. Kira McClellan in celebrating 14 years of operating the Haugen Medical Group office on Smith Drive Tuesday, Jan. 31. While smiles abounded at the celebration, the society is facing some financial concerns, and is looking for support from the communities of Armstrong and Spallumcheen. (Roger Knox - Morning Star)
Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march from Centennial Square to the Ministry of Health building in Victoria on April 14, 2022, the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Chief coroner prescribes ‘urgency’ as B.C. records 2,272 toxic drug deaths in 2022

Experts call for holistic action, call response so far a failure

Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march from Centennial Square to the Ministry of Health building in Victoria on April 14, 2022, the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
A Vernon nurse has had his registration suspended for six months, along with other disciplinary action, by the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives for professional misconduct. (Pixabay photo)

Look after our nurses, so they can look after us

LETTER: Writer urges increase in nurse wages to help solve medical problems

  • Jan 30, 2023
A Vernon nurse has had his registration suspended for six months, along with other disciplinary action, by the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives for professional misconduct. (Pixabay photo)
Training of surgeons in Canada has taken a heavy knock from the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, and some doctors say their clinical education has been delayed again in recent months as many hospitals across the country cancelled elective procedures to keep up with emergency care. A surgery is performed in the operating room in Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Doctors say surgical training, delayed by the pandemic, continues to be affected

A delay on surgeries has meant a delay on surgery trainees getting the hands on experience they need

Training of surgeons in Canada has taken a heavy knock from the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, and some doctors say their clinical education has been delayed again in recent months as many hospitals across the country cancelled elective procedures to keep up with emergency care. A surgery is performed in the operating room in Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Peace Arch Hospital doctor Amir Behboudi, front, with puppeteer and ventriloquist Kellie Haines, Magrau and UBC medical student Tsz Shing (Brandon) Ng pose with Beyond Your Eye Productions’ Carmen Klotz left, and Sharron Bates during a video filming session. (contributed photo)

Making the ER less scary for kids: B.C. doctor enlists help of puppeteer

Videos featuring ventriloquist and colourful puppet Magrau are free for any hospital to use

Peace Arch Hospital doctor Amir Behboudi, front, with puppeteer and ventriloquist Kellie Haines, Magrau and UBC medical student Tsz Shing (Brandon) Ng pose with Beyond Your Eye Productions’ Carmen Klotz left, and Sharron Bates during a video filming session. (contributed photo)
A team of experts have released a highly anticipated set of standards to prevent the spread of infection in Canada’s long-term care homes. A man looks out the window at the Camilla Care Community centre overlooking crosses marking the deaths of multiple people that occured during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Liberals mum on bill to codify standards in long-term care, despite new guidelines

Pandemic-fed crisis in long-term care prompted a feds to promise safety legislation in such settings

A team of experts have released a highly anticipated set of standards to prevent the spread of infection in Canada’s long-term care homes. A man looks out the window at the Camilla Care Community centre overlooking crosses marking the deaths of multiple people that occured during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mississauga, Ont., on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Dr. Barrie has been with the Lavington Fire Hall for the past 10 years as a volunteer firefighter.

New tech-savvy optometry clinic opening in Vernon this spring!

Optometry clinic opens early 2023, offering high tech. options for patient care

  • Jan 16, 2023
Dr. Barrie has been with the Lavington Fire Hall for the past 10 years as a volunteer firefighter.
A B.C. Ambulance Service paramedic moves a stretcher outside an ambulance at Royal Columbia Hospital, in New Westminster on Nov. 29, 2020. The paramedics union has reached a tentative new agreement with BCEHS and the province as of Jan. 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. paramedics union, province agree on tentative new contract

Members will decide whether to ratify it or not over coming weeks

A B.C. Ambulance Service paramedic moves a stretcher outside an ambulance at Royal Columbia Hospital, in New Westminster on Nov. 29, 2020. The paramedics union has reached a tentative new agreement with BCEHS and the province as of Jan. 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Lumby Mayor Kevin Acton joined AgeCare's John Nocon and SafeCare's Saleema Dhalla at the opening of the new training centre at Lumby's Monashee Mews Novvember 2022. (Contributed)

New training centres enhance education for Okanagan care workers

Kelowna, Lumby and Salmon Arm gain health and safety centres

Lumby Mayor Kevin Acton joined AgeCare's John Nocon and SafeCare's Saleema Dhalla at the opening of the new training centre at Lumby's Monashee Mews Novvember 2022. (Contributed)
Addilyn Emelia Radomske Booth, 23-months-old, passed away unexpectedly on Dec. 29, 2022. (GoFundMe)

‘Little things just don’t matter’: aunt speaks out after Kelowna toddler’s sudden death

Fundraiser for family of Addy, who would have turned 2 in February

  • Jan 3, 2023
Addilyn Emelia Radomske Booth, 23-months-old, passed away unexpectedly on Dec. 29, 2022. (GoFundMe)
A lab technician prepares a prescription at a pharmacy in Quebec City, Thursday, March 8, 2012. In a year when pharmacists have stickhandled children’s drug shortages and an extra-busy flu shot season, you’d think they might balk at the news in Ontario and B.C. that their prescriptive powers are being expanded. Yet those in the field say the added responsibilities may make their jobs more fulfilling — so long as the changes are accompanied with appropriate funding. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

‘Big year’ for pharmacists with new prescriptive powers, drug shortages: association

B.C. pharmacists will be allowed to make some prescriptions beginning in spring 2023

A lab technician prepares a prescription at a pharmacy in Quebec City, Thursday, March 8, 2012. In a year when pharmacists have stickhandled children’s drug shortages and an extra-busy flu shot season, you’d think they might balk at the news in Ontario and B.C. that their prescriptive powers are being expanded. Yet those in the field say the added responsibilities may make their jobs more fulfilling — so long as the changes are accompanied with appropriate funding. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot