Health

South Okanagan General Hospital

Staffing shortages close Oliver hospital emergency again

The closure is from Thursday evening into Friday

 

Dr. Emily Roback recently opened Canada’s first sensory-friendly chiropractic office in Parksville. (Kevin Forsyth photo)

B.C. welcomes Canada’s first sensory-friendly chiropractic office

Parksville Dr. Emily Roback says a patient’s environment can help them heal

 

Empty shelves of children’s pain relief medicine are seen at a Toronto pharmacy Wednesday, August 17, 2022. Pharmacists say Ontario drugstores are facing shortages of common children’s pain relievers amid sporadic supply disruptions across the country. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Joe O’Connal

Some kids’ painkillers in short supply, but pharmacists say prescription not needed

Ontario seeing shortage of over-the-counter children’s pain relievers containing acetaminophen

 

FILE - This file photo taken March 16, 2014 shows a general view of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland. A law has come into force in Scotland to ensure period products are available free of charge to anyone who needs them. The Scottish government said it became the first in the world to legally protect the right to access free period products when its Period Products Act came into force Monday. (AP Photo/Jill Lawless, File)

New Scottish law makes period products free for all

Scotland says it’s first in the world to legally protect the right to access free period products

FILE - This file photo taken March 16, 2014 shows a general view of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland. A law has come into force in Scotland to ensure period products are available free of charge to anyone who needs them. The Scottish government said it became the first in the world to legally protect the right to access free period products when its Period Products Act came into force Monday. (AP Photo/Jill Lawless, File)
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is seen in a dental hygienist training facility at a college in Sudbury, Ontario on Wednesday, September 18, 2019.Sources close to the government’s proposed dental-care program say the Liberals are planning temporary solution to buy time and keep their promise to the NDP while they work on a more permanent answer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Liberals planning temporary solution to dental care promise: sources

Feds have until end of the year to provide some kind of coverage for children under the age of 12

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is seen in a dental hygienist training facility at a college in Sudbury, Ontario on Wednesday, September 18, 2019.Sources close to the government’s proposed dental-care program say the Liberals are planning temporary solution to buy time and keep their promise to the NDP while they work on a more permanent answer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Beatrice Janyk, 95, donates blood at Canada Blood Services in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday April 18, 2018. Canadian Blood Services is calling on donors to book and keep appointments as it continues to face challenges in collecting blood products.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canadian Blood Services urging people to donate as it faces collection challenges

Supplies dwindle as low as 4 days worth as collections have been steadily decreasing since July 1

Beatrice Janyk, 95, donates blood at Canada Blood Services in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday April 18, 2018. Canadian Blood Services is calling on donors to book and keep appointments as it continues to face challenges in collecting blood products.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control

Sex pods? Long sleeves? Americans try to cut monkeypox risk while waiting for shots

People adapt their behaviour as vaccine availability fails to meet demand

Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control
A woman walks by a sign during the AIDS 2022 conference in Montreal, Sunday, July 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Federal government announces $18M for HIV testing at Montreal AIDS conference

Number of Canadians living with HIV has risen by 25 per cent since 2008, says advocacy organization

A woman walks by a sign during the AIDS 2022 conference in Montreal, Sunday, July 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
In the image from video provided by Notre Dame Law School, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Altio speaks at the Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Summit in Rome, on July 21, 2022. Alito mocked foreign leaders’ criticism of the Supreme Court decision he authored overturning a constitutional right to abortion, in his first public comments since last month’s ruling.(Notre Dame Law School via AP)

VIDEO: U.S. Justice mocks Trudeau, other foreign leaders critical of Roe v. Wade overturning

Justice Samuel Altio made remarks at religious liberty conference in Rome

In the image from video provided by Notre Dame Law School, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Altio speaks at the Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Summit in Rome, on July 21, 2022. Alito mocked foreign leaders’ criticism of the Supreme Court decision he authored overturning a constitutional right to abortion, in his first public comments since last month’s ruling.(Notre Dame Law School via AP)
(Pixaby photo)

B.C.’s seniors advocate urges seniors and caregivers to prepare for rising temperatures

Dual focus during high temperatures is to keep the room cool and to keep the body cool

(Pixaby photo)
Carolyn Bennett rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 10, 2022. Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions says more doctors across the country should be willing to prescribe a safer supply of drugs instead of fearing they will be investigated by their regulatory colleges.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

More doctors across Canada should prescribe safer drugs to reduce overdoses: minister

Physicians who prescribe pharmaceutical-grade alternatives could better support patients: college

Carolyn Bennett rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 10, 2022. Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions says more doctors across the country should be willing to prescribe a safer supply of drugs instead of fearing they will be investigated by their regulatory colleges.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
This 2014 illustration made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a polio virus particle. On Thursday, July 21, 2022, New York health officials reported a polio case, the first in the U.S. in nearly a decade. (Sarah Poser, Meredith Boyter Newlove/CDC via AP)

New York reports 1st US polio case in nearly a decade

Polio was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 1979, meaning there was no longer routine spread

This 2014 illustration made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a polio virus particle. On Thursday, July 21, 2022, New York health officials reported a polio case, the first in the U.S. in nearly a decade. (Sarah Poser, Meredith Boyter Newlove/CDC via AP)
Premiers mingle during a photo op while at the summer meeting of the Canada’s Premiers at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, Monday, July 11, 2022. Provinces, territories and municipalities across the country have been sent more than $2.85 billion, courtesy of the federal government.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Federal government sends $2B in health transfers, other funding to provinces

Transfer comes days after premiers heavily critical of Liberals for not funding health-care enough

Premiers mingle during a photo op while at the summer meeting of the Canada’s Premiers at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, Monday, July 11, 2022. Provinces, territories and municipalities across the country have been sent more than $2.85 billion, courtesy of the federal government.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Premiers mingle during a photo op while at the summer meeting of the Canada’s Premiers at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, Monday, July 11, 2022. The premiers try again to make their case for a permanent increase in federal health transfers, they’re also waiting on $2 billion they were promised back in March to help clear surgical and diagnostic backlogs.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Provinces still haven’t received $2B in health top-ups announced by Liberals in March

Federal government says payments will start ‘imminently’

Premiers mingle during a photo op while at the summer meeting of the Canada’s Premiers at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, Monday, July 11, 2022. The premiers try again to make their case for a permanent increase in federal health transfers, they’re also waiting on $2 billion they were promised back in March to help clear surgical and diagnostic backlogs.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Premier John Horgan gestures during a break from a meeting of Canada’s premiers at the Songhees Wellness Centre in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, July 11, 2022 THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Horgan urges federal government to carry half the health-care load as premiers meet

Premier: ‘We need to reimagine public health care in Canada’

Premier John Horgan gestures during a break from a meeting of Canada’s premiers at the Songhees Wellness Centre in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, July 11, 2022 THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Shannon McKenney, shown in a handout photo, has been having severe migraines consecutively for about 1,500 days. Her story is one of several noted in an application submitted in court on behalf of more than 100 health-care professionals from across the country. They are challenging the federal minister of health’s decision to reject their applications to use restricted psychedelic drugs as part of training in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Shannon McKenney **MANDATORY CREDIT**

More than 100 health-care professionals challenge rejection of psilocybin access

Health Canada did not immediately provide comment on the request for a judicial review

Shannon McKenney, shown in a handout photo, has been having severe migraines consecutively for about 1,500 days. Her story is one of several noted in an application submitted in court on behalf of more than 100 health-care professionals from across the country. They are challenging the federal minister of health’s decision to reject their applications to use restricted psychedelic drugs as part of training in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Shannon McKenney **MANDATORY CREDIT**
Protesters gather outside as premiers meet inside during the summer meeting of the Canada’s Premiers at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, July 11, 2022 THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Public health-care system on ‘brink of disaster,’ Canadian nurses federation says

Nurses outline crisis at premiers summit, Kenney wants climate change plan talk

Protesters gather outside as premiers meet inside during the summer meeting of the Canada’s Premiers at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, July 11, 2022 THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
A jar full of empty COVID-19 vaccine vials is shown at the Junction Chemist pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on April 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

VIDEO: B.C. residents will soon be able to book their fourth COVID-19 shot

Second booster shots coming by September

A jar full of empty COVID-19 vaccine vials is shown at the Junction Chemist pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on April 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Patrick Bélanger, of Quebec City, is seen in an undated handout photo. Belanger says he was denied surgery for a week after he fell and broke his jaw, cheekbone and orbital bone and ended up in the emergency room of a hospital in B.C., where a surgeon told him he couldn’t do the operation because Quebec “doesn’t pay.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Patrick Belanger, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Hospital ‘nightmare’ in B.C. for Quebec patient denied surgery: father

‘Gross incompetence on the part of the hospital and a failure of the Canadian health-care system’

Patrick Bélanger, of Quebec City, is seen in an undated handout photo. Belanger says he was denied surgery for a week after he fell and broke his jaw, cheekbone and orbital bone and ended up in the emergency room of a hospital in B.C., where a surgeon told him he couldn’t do the operation because Quebec “doesn’t pay.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Patrick Belanger, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Pictured during 2015, Aaron Craven (right) is with his mother, Patricia Craven (center), and his father, Donald Craven (left), who passed away in 2018. (Photo: Aaron Craven/ B.C. Alzheimer's Society).

Advocates want more consistency in B.C.’s extended care visitation policies post-pandemic

Constantly shifting rules around essential visitors hard on people’s mental health

Pictured during 2015, Aaron Craven (right) is with his mother, Patricia Craven (center), and his father, Donald Craven (left), who passed away in 2018. (Photo: Aaron Craven/ B.C. Alzheimer's Society).