News

At the latest regular board meeting in Prince George, the Northern Health board of directors expressed thanks to staff and Northern Health partners for their dedication and compassion for evacuees from this summer’s wildfire emergency.

Northern Health staff and physicians provided care for inpatients, long-term care and assisted living residents, renal, maternity, and palliative care patients. Together with its physician partners, NH also provided primary care and community services for the evacuees who came to Quesnel and Prince George over the course of the summer.

Northern Health and the BC Cancer Agency are pleased to announce the official opening of the new Breast Imaging Clinic at UHNBC in Prince George.

The Clinic brings together new, state-of-the-art digital mammography and ultrasound equipment and a dedicated team of radiologists and technologists, enabling women to have their screening mammograms and, if required, diagnostic mammograms and ultrasounds in one location. This will improve access to services, and result in less time between screening, and diagnosis and treatment.

Summer brings many things, including enjoying our time on the many lakes in northern BC. For those living on lakes year round, part time, or just visiting, it’s important to stay healthy while enjoying the experience.

With the warming weather, blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) blooms may appear in lakes across northern BC. Blue-green algae are naturally occurring and can look like scum, grass clippings, fuzz or globs on the surface of water. Blue-green algae can be blue-green, greenish-brown, brown, or pinkish-red, and often smells musty or grassy.

Northern Health (NH) is working closely with Interior Health on the return of Cariboo evacuees to their home communities.

With the lifting of the Williams Lake Evacuation Alert, Northern Health is planning for and supporting the transfer of community care, assisted living, long-term care and acute care patients who were evacuated to Northern Health facilities, back to Williams Lake.

Northern Health warns that as smoke concentrations vary widely in the regions, they remain concentrated in some areas and everyone should take precautions to avoid unnecessary exposure and adverse health effects.

Northern Health’s Connections program will run on the annual modified summer schedule during the month of August. The modified schedule affects service from August 08 to 31, and the program will not run on the regular routes during that period. The table below indicates the last run before the summer break and the first day back in service for each route

Northern Health is entering the next phase of supporting wildfire evacuees from the Williams Lake area.

Acute care, residential care and assisted living clients evacuated from Williams Lake have been settled into a variety of care settings in Prince George, and Northern Health is also working with the City of Prince George and other community partners to support the health needs of evacuees in general.

Northern Health continues to support BC wildfire evacuations in the Interior Health region.

GR Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel and the University Hospital of Northern BC in Prince George have received evacuated patients from Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake. As well, more than 100 evacuated residential care and assisted living clients from Williams Lake are being received at various Prince George care facilities.