Health Panel: HealthCare Solutions in Kamloops

Join us for a community health panel. A diverse panel of health providers will share information about their own programs and services. Kamloops is experiencing a massive shortage in primary care providers and we are looking at creative ways to alleviate this situation. The goal is to work together on possible solutions to increasing the health care options in Kamloops.

Note: we will be focusing on looking ahead and we ask audience members to consider this goal when formulating questions. We already know what the challenges are and only want to look towards a positive future!

Doors open at 6:30, panel starts at 7:00pm. We encourage you to arrive at 6:30 and chat with our panelists. The panel will start on time at 7:00pm. There will be time at the end of the presentations to ask questions.

RSVP

Location Details:

• Event will take place in the Mountain Room in the Campus Activity Centre (CAC) at TRU. 
• DRIVING: park in the lots closest to the new student residence building (free in the evenings).
• TRANSIT: Get off the bus at the bus loop on University Drive and walk north to the CAC

Panelists: 

Christine Matuschewski – CEO - STEPS (Supporting Team Excellence with Patients Society)

• Director at Large, BC Assoc. of Community Health Clinics
• Christine has been with STEPS since its inception and has a wealth of experience in the formation and function of a CHC
• The first STEPS Community Health Clinic was established in 2017 in  Orchards Walk, Valleyview.
• STEPS has patient base of 20,000 with a projected increase to 45,000
• STEPS provides 75% of the Family Practice Residencies in Kamloops
• STEPS has five Community Health Clinics in Kamloops
• • Orchards Walk Clinic – Valleyview
    • 250-828-8080  
    • #102-3200 Valleyview Dr.  V2C 4S2
  • STEPS TruCare Health Centre
    • 250.372.5522
    • 200 - 321 Nicola St. Kamloops BC V2C 6G6
  • STEPS Health Clinic 645 Victoria street
    • 250.374.5458
    • 645 Victoria St. Kamloops BC V2C 2B3
  • STEPS BeeWell Kamloops Medical Clinic
    • 778.362.9153
    • 1168 Battle St. Kamloops BC V2C 2
  • STEPS Sun Peaks Community Health Centre

Dr. Selena Lawrie – one of the original founders of STEPS

• 1994 – UBC Med School
• Rural family residency – Memorial University
• President of Lions Gate Hospital Medical Staff 2004-2005
• Family Practice dept Head – RIH
• VP RIH medical staff
• Regional Residential Care Medical Director Interior Health West
• Site Director for UBC Family Practice Residency Program in Kamloops
• A Clinical Family Medicine Practitioner for over 30 years

Dr. Rani Srivastava - Dean of Nursing TRU

• Dr. Rani Srivastava is Associate Professor and Dean of Nursing at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. She also holds adjunct positions at York University, Toronto, ON and Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS. She is currently serving as the NECBC (Nursing Education Council of British Columbia) representative on the board of NNPBC (Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of British Columbia).
• TRU has funding and has developed a Nurse Practitioner Program that has very recently been approved by the BC Ministry of Education. Their goal is to be able to offer the program starting this spring

Tanya Sanders BSN MSN PhD(c)

• Tanya is a Associate Teaching Professor Nursing at TRU and is currently working on her PhD
• Previous experience included:
• Health Canada, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, BC Region, Transfer Nursing Team
  *Transfer Nursing Management and Practice Consultant
• Interior Health Authority
  * Public Health Nurse
  * Family Health Program Leader-Prevention Services
  Xaxli'p First Nation
  * Community Health Nurse
  Northern Health Authority
  * Program Manager Public Health Nursing
  * Injury Prevention Coordinator
  * Public Health Nurse
• Passionate about preventative programs and primary care
• Interested in the First Nations situation regarding Health Care

Sara Goddard RN

• Sara has taken the road less travelled
• After graduation from the TRU School of Nursing she worked in a Community Health Clinic in Lillooet, BC
• She has volunteered for Doctors Without Borders (6 months in South Sudan and 9 months in Yemen)
• For four years she ran a rural First Nations nursing station for the Tsilhqot’in National Government in the central Cariboo.
• For two years she was the sole health care professional for a large northern mining operation (two weeks in, two weeks out)
• Currently she is an Outreach Nurse (Street Nurse) in Penticton

Julie Ford BSc (Pharmacy), MBA

• Owner/Operator of Pharmasave Aberdeen (Kamloops Pharmacy Ltd) for the last year and one half
• She has spent twenty five years as a practicing Pharmacist
• She is passionate about delivering safe and effective pharmacy services and takes the time to assess the individual needs of each patient. 
• In addition to her community pharmacy experience, Julie has a business background and has worked in the past as a business administrator for the BC Cancer Agency in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Diagnostic Imaging departments. 
• Outside of work, Julie is busy with her family and loves to mountain bike and ski!

Connie Jasper – Health Director – Tsilhqot’in National Government

• Connie Jasper has been Health Director for the Tsilhqot’in National Government for the last 16 years and is a member of Xeni Gwet’in First Nation. 
• She works with six remote and rural communities
• She has worked in improving access to care for First Nations for years and has a great deal of experience in advocacy
• Connie was central as part of the team who opened the First Nations Wellness Center in Williams Lake, a centre aimed at providing primary health care, social services and Indigenous health supports in a team-based model with an indigenous lens