Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C.'s Interior Health to restart surgeries

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Feb, 2022 05:11 PM
  • B.C.'s Interior Health to restart surgeries

KELOWNA, B.C. - British Columbia's Interior Health authority says it's taking a phased approach to resuming services that were paused last month, including rescheduling postponed surgeries and reopening in-patient services in several communities.

A statement from president Susan Brown says the impacts of the Omicron wave of COVID-19 on staffing in the region's health-care system are beginning to subside.

Brown says staffing isn't stable enough to safely restore all services next week, but it will reschedule procedures starting Wednesday and aims to clear the backlog as quickly as possible.

The announcement from Interior Health comes as the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. continues to decline, at 733 on Friday from 744 the previous day.

Five more people have died, for a total of 2,786 COVID-19 related fatalities.

A statement from the Health Ministry says the province is also preparing to distribute COVID-19 rapid tests to the public, starting with seniors, and officials are expected to outline details of the plan during a news conference next week.

Interior Health says in-patient services will reopen Feb. 23 in Clearwater, where one new registered nurse has been recruited, while nurse-provided primary care services will return to normal that day at the Barriere and District Health Centre.

In-patient services are also set to reopen March 14 in Lillooet with two new nurses.

The health authority says overnight services at the Ashcroft Community Health Centre and the Slocan Community Health Centre in New Denver remain temporarily reduced to stabilize daytime services in those communities.

Health Minister Adrian Dix told a news conference this week that the proportion of health-care workers calling in sick was higher in the Interior Health region, which accounted for about two-thirds of all the non-urgent cancelled surgeries in B.C.

"But most everywhere else, we're going to be aggressively moving to rebook surgeries in the coming weeks because people need their surgeries," Dix said.

"And even if we describe these as non-urgent scheduled surgeries, they're all important, they're all necessary."

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Pair arrested for stealing gas

Pair arrested for stealing gas
The female suspect, a 29-year-old from Surrey, was released at the scene pending further investigation. The male, a 44-year-old from Langley, was found to be breaching his curfew conditions and was held in custody.

Pair arrested for stealing gas

Feds drop mandatory PCR test for travel

Feds drop mandatory PCR test for travel
Travellers can instead opt for a rapid antigen test approved by the country in which it is purchased. However, Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said rapid tests will have to be administered by a laboratory or health care entity.

Feds drop mandatory PCR test for travel

Boys identified in Vancouver's oldest cold case

Boys identified in Vancouver's oldest cold case
Police say David and Derek D'Alton were six and seven when they were bludgeoned with a hatchet and left in Vancouver's Stanley Park in a case known as the "Babes in the Woods."

Boys identified in Vancouver's oldest cold case

Woman groped in Lynn Canyon Park

Woman groped in Lynn Canyon Park
The woman was exiting the Varley Loop Trail and crossing the foot bridge to Rice Lake Road at approximately 1:30 p.m. on February 13th when the suspect grabbed her buttocks from behind. The suspect is described as a Black or a South Asian male.    

Woman groped in Lynn Canyon Park

Order invoking Emergencies Act is now public

Order invoking Emergencies Act is now public
The order is now public on the government website but it took effect Monday when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the plan at a news conference from Parliament Hill.

Order invoking Emergencies Act is now public

Climate change doubled chance of B.C. flood: study

Climate change doubled chance of B.C. flood: study
The study concludes that the likelihood of similar events in the future will only increase as global warming continues to upend normal weather patterns. Almost 15,000 people were forced from their homes at the peak of the November floods.    

Climate change doubled chance of B.C. flood: study