Community First Health Co-op AGM and Beyond....

Community First Health Co-op AGM

The CFHC which is celebrating its 10^th year in the Lake Street Building, held their AGM on June 14, 2016 with a good turnout of members and guests.

The presentation for the evening was done by Drs Shiraz Moola and Kevin McKechnie. They were presenting on telehealth and what it could mean for our area.  The realization that the two tier system of health in B.C. is now private or public, but in fact urban and rural. The difficulty for rural communities to access the same level of specialty care as a large centre creates long drives, long wait lists, extra expenses and safety issues for the people who need it.

Telehealth has been piloted in the area for maternity and allows visits from the local hospital or health centre to the doctors in larger centres.  Visits to specialists can be costly and prohibitive for some people so they just do not go to access the help they need.

Telehealth would be an online face to face meeting with the patient, the local doctor and the specialist. Although there are some concerns re privacy, technology and issues to co-ordinate the people needed for the call, it seems to far be outweighed by the benefits.

The fields in which it seems Telehealth is making inroads to have specialists on board are urology, general surgery, pre-surgical screening, cardiology and psychiatry. Also some mobile maternity and ER/ ICU needs. If 1 out of every 3 patients who needed to see a specialist could use Telehealth it would save 2,614 patient visits, 9,410 hours and over $300,000 for the health system, plus the money saved in patient travel costs each year.  Although this is a Kootenay –Boundary initiative, there are multiple projects province wide.

There would need to be incentives for telehealth to be successful from the physician’s perspective as it takes some organization for appointments and connections with specialists.

One of the audience members who had a skype follow-up after his surgery was most pleased with not having to go to Vancouver again.

The way to help is to advocate with the Ministry of Health as to the needs for rural or remote areas to have equality of care. 

The AGM followed after some birthday cake and coffee to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the opening of the Wellness Centre at 518 Lake Street in Nelson.  It has been an extraordinary 10 years.

The highlights of the AGM were:

1.    Deb Zeeben speaking about how the credit union co-ops and health co-ops both came to be in the 1950’s and how we are connected across the world in the co-op movement.
2.  The Wellness centre is about hope, help, care and choice as we try to be a catalyst for integrated health care.
3. The determinants of health show that 25% is determined by wellness and 25% by community and social connectedness. As we continue to connect with our community through the Resource centre, involvement in low cost dental, seniors issues and affordable housing we are supporting wellness in the community.
4. Deb will be leaving the board as she has served her 6 consecutive years but she will continue in an advisory positon and as past chair for the next year.  Thanks for all you have done!
5. The various board members reported on the Resource Centre, Low cost Dental, Heath Fair, Social media and promotion, the Wellness Centre and new partners and our connections in the community.

Our new board will be:

Pegasus McGauley, Marion Hunter, Eric Ramsden, Erin Morrison all in continuing terms, Lynn Adams and Sharon Browning beginning new 3 year terms and two new board members, Lonnie Facchina and Lynn Goodison.

 

Lonnie

Lonnie Facchina is known for her work for the MS Society, the Nelson District Hospice Society and as the volunteer co-ordinator for the Resource Room. We look forward to her expertise on our Board.

Lynn

Lynn Goodison retired from nursing in 2008 and is currently employed with the Nelson and District Seniors Co-ordinating Society as the Home Help Co-ordinator. She brings to the table a medical perspective.

The next meeting will be the Statutory meeting on June 22, 2016 at 11:00 am and the board members will be chosen for executive and committee roles.

We are all looking forward to summer and some down time to replenish for the next year.

Eric and Marion

Passport to Wellness II: A Resounding Success and Next Year's Event is Already in Mind!

So what does it take to put on a health fair? Well it takes a small but dedicated committee, some amazing sponsors, practitioners from all areas of health and wellness, representatives from many organizations and a community that wants to know what is out there to help them with their own wellness plan.

On April 16, 2016, the Passport to Wellness 11 Health Fair took place at the Community First Health Co-op.  There were 12 interactive sessions that represented a large variety of topics and 15 booths set up by local agencies to gather information on an array of health issues in the area.

  Oso coffee and herbal teas paired with some great fresh veggies, wraps and fruit trays was available throughout the day, ably handled by Sarah Popoff and her two German international student helpers, Tabea and Carolin. 

 Lynn Adams was the official greeter on behalf of the Co-op and was there to answer questions, give directions and encourage people to fill in the feedback forms for a chance at a draw.

Mia Gardiner did triple duty as a committee member, participant, and technology expert so all went flawlessly – which as we all know is often not the case.  

The presenters were very well received by everyone and participants felt that they had such a good variety of presenters and often had to make decisions on what to go and hear. Several people remarked that they were only coming for one presentation but stayed for the day. 

The morning started off with presentations by Mia Gardinier on the

BC Rise Wellness Chronic Pain Workshop

Latest in the fight against cancer and staff of the BC Rise Wellness group doing an interactive session on Chronic Pain relief through activity- I discovered that I stand when I am tired in a manner that is hard on the hips and the back –so now have a mission to get better at that.

At 11 am, as more folk in the area were waking up, we had the chance to hear from Morag Reid from the Nelson Hospice Society on Dying and Grief in our Community,

Essential Oils Workshop

or to learn about Essential Oils and the benefits they have for many issues.

Andrew Earnshaw, ED - Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice

When noon rolled around the numbers picked up and Dr. Lee McKay and Andrew Earnshaw, ED from the Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice gave a great session on the Future of Primary Health Care and Meeting the Challenge.  At the same time, people were learning about Clinical Hypnosis from Jackalin    MacGregor, a session attended by Erin Morrison from our committee as she tried to get to most of the sessions to support our presenters.

After some snacks for lunch, the 1 pm session has Dr Kozak doing a session on Blood type and the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease, while others took part in a session by Sandy MacLean on Somatic Psychotherapy –Skills for Resolving Trauma from the Body UP – this proved to be one of our most popular offerings.

2pm it was time for Breakout with Sean Dooley. Sean is a young Nelson man who told his story of overcoming many obstacles and is now an mental health advocate for young athletes in dealing with all of the pressures of performance and the mental health issues that may plague them.  At the same time, Sandy MacLean held another session on Attachment Theory – A Map for Transforming Relationship Distress.

As the day wound down the last sessions were offered by Mark McBride on Mid –Life transitions – Hormones and their effect on our overall health and Dr. Andre Kirsten – Autoimmune Disease and HPA Axis Dysfunction – How stress may be affecting your health.

We want to thank all the groups who had tables or kiosks with volunteers to give our information – Nelson Friends of the Family, Nelson and District Hospice Society, TEETH/ IHA Dental, Breakout, Thermography, Senior’s Co-ordinating Society, Community First Health Co-op, Kootenay Medical Aesthetics, Paediatric Sleep Consultant, Heart and Stroke Foundation, ALS Society of BC, MS Society of BC, BC Lung Association, Arthritis Society of BC, Nelson Community services, Acupuncture and Natural Health Clinic and Mindfulness of Heart. 

Our other hard working committee members were Lonnie Facchina who put together the program and found the community groups for us plus took part in both the MS Society and the Nelson Hospice Society kiosks and presentations, Michael Jessen who helped find presenters and ran the BC Lung Society kiosk, and Marion Hunter who ran up and down stairs most of the day checking to see how things were going and keeping us all energized.  And we, of course, want to thank the CFHC Board Chair Deb Zeeben for moving and arranging and being the backbone of this organization 

 If you missed the fair then you want to book Saturday, April 8, 2017 for the 3^rd rendition of the PASSPORT TO WELLNESS FAIR.

 Yours in health and wellness ;-)

Eric and Marion