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Interior Health Authority

West Kelowna close to finalizing deal for new City Hall

WEST KELOWNA – West Kelowna is taking the next step in the process of building a new city hall and civic centre. The city is wrapping up negotiations with a developer to build the complex and now will ask taxpayers for permission to borrow up to $10.5 million, according to a media release. “This is...

Another reprieve for Interior Health laundry workers

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Hospital Employees’ Union is welcoming news that Interior Health is delaying its decision to contract out laundry services. New Interior Health President and CEO Chris Mazurkewich says in a release today, Nov. 25, not to expect a decision before March 2016. He’s been on the job less than a month and wants...

Routine HIV testing rolls out in Interior Health hospitals

Patients can expect to be offered an HIV test when receiving blood work in Interior Health hospitals. To date, seven Interior Health emergency departments have started offering an HIV test routinely and additional sites are expected to be on board in the coming months. “B.C. is recognized as a global leader in the fight against...

Interior Health Authority old stomping ground for new CEO

KELOWNA - The new head of the Interior Health Authority spent the first week on the job travelling and expects to to do a lot more before things settle down. “I was out talking with staff, physicians, community leaders, volunteers. I’m just going around to communities and listening to what people are telling me. I...

Flu shot season in the Southern Interior

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With the peak of flu season just a few weeks away, Health Canada has started its yearly vaccination program. Although last year’s flu vaccine wasn’t particularly effective, Interior Health medical officer Kamran Golmohammadi says, this year’s vaccine cocktail will target the more severe of the two types of viruses – Type A. Every...

Pilot project could put baskets of free condoms in Okanagan schools

VERNON - Baskets of condoms could soon be coming to local high schools as way of putting protection in the hands of those who need it — no questions asked. About 14 schools in B.C.’s Interior have free condoms available, but students have to ask for them, Vernon School District health coordinator Christine Balfour says....

Kelowna General Hospital could face fines for laundry room crushing accident

KELOWNA - A workplace accident that saw a laundry worker crushed by automated equipment at Kelowna General Hospital resulted in a number of work orders from WorkSafe B.C. And Alan Davies, regional director of support services, says the Interior Health Authority could eventually face some fines over the infractions that saw the young laundry worker...

This year’s flu vaccine to target relatively vicious strain

KELOWNA – If you feel like this fall has already been worse than others for getting a cold or the flu, Interior Health has some bad news for you. It won’t peak for another month. According to Interior Health medical officer Kamran Golmohammadi the influenza virus and all the other viruses that cause flu-like symptoms...

Cloudy brown water soon a thing of the past in Glenmore Ellison

CENTRAL OKANAGAN - It’s taken almost seven years and $20 million, but residents who have endured near constant water quality advisories in the Glenmore Ellison area are getting some relief. Darwin Kutney, geneal manager of the Glenmore Ellison Improvement District, says its new Okanagan Lake intake and pump station plus a closed reservoir are set...

New president and CEO announced for Interior Health

KELOWNA - A new president and chief executive officer has been named for the Interior Health Authority. It was announced at a board meeting today, Oct. 6, that Chris Mazurkewich will take over as president and CEO on Oct. 26. He is replacing Dr. Robert Halpenny, who announced his resignation earlier this year. Halpenny’s last...