First Board Meeting of 2017: Lots Happening!

It is cold outside these days but a warming trend is on theway!! Some of the Board were talking about how they do not recall such a long stretch of cold weather.  We do enjoy the sun and blue skies and white mountain tops, though we do say, looking out your window, is definitely preferred by many.

 Our first Board meeting for 2017 was a busy one and we met a new person to our community who has now volunteered to be on our Health Fair Committee and will allow her name to stand for becoming a Board member!!

 Jacqueline Carr, the Executive Director and Patient Navigator for Rise Above Pain Society gave the board a great presentation on a new society that will work with Rise BC Wellness Centre and Dr. Joel Kalia and staff, to support those living with chronic pain. 

The program being offered in Nelson and area is a 3-pronged approach -  Chronic Pain workshops- Self Management – Movement/Support classes. The 8-week program will begin on February 8,2017 for 10 participants, as a pilot project. There are spaces available for 2 more participants. You must commit to 2 hours a week, and some homework to be involved. There is no cost to the program and it will run out the Rise BC Wellness Centre at the Community First Health Co-op.  The workshops will focus on the emotional, physical, and science of living with chronic pain.  Jacqueline reminded us the 22,000 people in the Southern Interior live with chronic pain. 

The Lake Street Housing Committee is holding a Community Planning Meeting at CFHC, February 17,2017 from 4:00- 5:00 pm in the Resource Room.  The meeting is to hear about the plans for the units and commercial space.  We know from the plans that there are 42 units of space available. This is a project that has been in the works for many years and we are excited that we may be able to move forward.

We would like to Welcome T.O.P. S. as a corporate member of CFHC and a partner in the building.  Check them out  TOPS and How It Works

First Community Health Co-op  (TOPS BC 1705) 518 Lake St  Room 204 Nelson,  BC  V1L 4C6  Canada Mondays:  5:45/6:30 PM

 We encourage groups that take care of their health and support others to do the same.

The first two Health Fairs have been amazing!

So, do not forget to mark April 8, 2017 as a date to take part in our 3^rd Passport to Wellness Health Fair, with a focus on Mental Health.

From all of us, be careful out there, we have heard of several people with broken hips and legs and arms from an ice related fall. 

Our fellow blogger Erin is taking a break, so we wish her the best and we sign off for January 2017

Eric and Marion 

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

Affordable Housing, Low Cost Dental and Added Support for the Alzheimer Society at the November Health Co-op Board Meeting

Wow, how did November arrive so quickly?  With -2 and scraping windows it seems that the long fall is heading early into winter. 

Community First Health Co-op held their monthly Board meeting with most of us present and here are some highlights.

The Lake Street Housing Committee met earlier this month  with Nelson Council member Michael Dailly to begin a discussion around housing options and needs within the region. We would like to thank him for his time and we had a great talk about some of the initiatives in Nelson and some of the unmet needs, such as housing for the working poor. We also had a chance to brainstorm some ideas around Land Trusts and lease-holds and will continue our work in that area.

TEETH our low cost Dental initiative is booming. We had over 300 visits in the past year and it continues to grow in services offered. It has been short listed for a financial award and we are just awaiting information on the voting procedure.  Once we know it check out our blog and website and facebook pages so you can learn how to vote so that we can win the award and the financial prize to enhance our work in this much needed area.

Thanks to Julia Leffelaar of the Alzheimer Society of B.C. for volunteering to not only provide workshops, but to also volunteer to be in the resource center for one Friday each month to provide support to our community.  Julie will be available, in the resource centre on theses dates:  Dec 11, January 8, Feb 12 and March 11. We are still looking for volunteers for 3 Friday afternoons a month.

We also want to welcome a new member to our partners in the building Elephant Mountain Counselling.  Here is the link:

http://elephantmountaincounselling.ca/

Take care and get out and enjoy the brisk fall air!!

Eric, Marion and Erin

Seniors Advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, wants to Hear from Seniors Living in the Nelson Area on October 6th, 2015

You are invited to a

Town Hall Meeting with B.C.'s Seniors Advocate

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

TIME: 2:00-4:00 PM

Best Western Baker Street Inn

Osprey Room, 

153 Baker Street, 

Nelson, B.C.

The Seniors Advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, wants to hear from seniors and their family members who live in Nelson and area. You are invited to meet the Advocate and let her know what is working and not working for seniors in Nelson.

The Advocate will discuss her role, seniors’ concerns heard in B.C., home care issues, access to seniors’ services and housing. The audience is encouraged to participate in questions and discussion.

www.seniorsadvocatebc.ca    

   info@seniorsadvocatebc.ca 

1-877-952-3181