Interior Health Authority
Lots of smoke but not much fire; health inspectors clear Valoroso Foods of serious violations
KELOWNA - If Joe Valoroso is bitter about his specialty food store being called out for label tampering and other minor food safey infractions, he’s now showing it. “No one is entitled to judge anybody else,” he simply says. In fact, the president of Valoroso Foods seems quite forgiving about having his name dragged through...
What many dementia patients have in common with the Enderby senior found dead last week
VERNON - More people are living independently with dementia instead of in care homes than you might think, says an Interior Health Authority doctor. That includes people like Barbara Derenowski, 73, who drove off from her Enderby home last week without a valid driver’s licence and was found dead days later on the side of...
Watching the watchers – Interior Health Authority measures journalist’s opinions with media survey
KELOWNA - Is the Interior Health authority a transparent and open government organization, readily accessible to the media, or an impenetrable bureaucracy with a tightly controlled and scripted media message? It depends which side of the divide you’re on. On Tuesday, Darshan Lindsay, manager of public affairs for the Interior Health Authority, took board members...
What nurse practitioners bring to our health care system: Interior Health wants you to know
KELOWNA - What began as a study to figure out how Interior Health nurse practitioners could be better incorporated into the health system has turned into three instructional videos for the public to help them understand the role of NPs. The study, conducted by Interior Health and the School of Nursing at UBC Okanagan, was...
Interior Health appealing $75,000 fine for endangering workers at Vernon hospital
VERNON — Interior Health Authority is fighting a $75,000 fine imposed by WorkSafe B.C. for exposing its workers to toxic substances. The fine was issued Sept. 19, 2014, three years after WorkSafe first inspected the Vernon Jubilee Hospital diagnostic laboratory and deemed its ventilation system inadequate. Workers were exposed to formaldehyde and other toxic substances,...
Battling Ebola: A nurse’s story
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As her family and friends prepare to have a white Christmas back home, Patrice Gordon will don a "spacesuit" in extreme heat and help patients infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone. The nurse practicioner with the Interior Health Authority, who hails from Nakusp, signed up as a volunteer with the Red Cross and...
Interior Health employee investigated for alleged sexual assault of ‘vulnerable’ resident
NOT THE FIRST ALLEGATION: POLICE VERNON - Interior Heath Authority is reviewing an employee who was investigated by police for an allegation of sexual assault on a 'vulnerable' care facility resident. Interior Health informed police of the allegations in July 2014 but the incident happened some time before. Vernon RCMP says interior health didn't report...