Interior Health and the North Okanagan Hospice Society wish to thank all those involved in the proactive relocation of nine patients on May 9 in response to flooding concerns.
In consultation with the City of Vernon around imminent flooding risk from BX Creek, the decision was made to transfer patients until further notice. Eight patients were relocated to Vernon Jubilee Hospital and one was transferred to Gateby Care facility in Vernon.
This was a precautionary measure in light of the imminent risk of flooding in the neighbouring creek due to a continued unstable weather pattern and recognizing the vulnerable nature of these patients.
Emergency response planning began at 2 p.m. on May 9 with the objective being safe, timely, quality transfers for these patients. Planning included notification to patient families by Hospice House leadership team. Ambulance transfers began at approximately 3:30 – and by 6:30 p.m. all patients and families were safely settled in their new rooms. There has been an excellent collaboration between everyone involved, including staff at Hospice House, the North Okanagan Community Health team, VJH teams, Gateby staff, patient transportation, Human Resources, Pharmacy and many others. We’d like to thank everyone involved for ensuring all went as smoothly as possible for these patients and families. Our number one priority is safe, quality care. We recognize this is a difficult time for these patients and families – we continue to work closely with Hospice House staff and are doing everything possible to meet the individual needs of these patients and their families.
The situation is being monitored daily with the goal of returning patients to North Okanagan Hospice House as soon as it is safe to do so.
The Board of Directors, management, staff and volunteers at North Okanagan Hospice Society sincerely thank the emergency protocol professionals at Interior Health and the staff at Vernon Jubilee Hospital as well as Gateby Residential Care for their assistance in transferring Hospice patients because of the risk of flooding. With their support, the goal of providing quality end-of-life care for the nine patients who were transferred was achieved. We are grateful that the care and safety of our patients were at the forefront of every decision. Hospice is also grateful for the outpouring of support from the community.
We look forward to getting Hospice House “back to normal” as soon as it is safe to do so.
Ruth Edwards, Executive Director, North Okanagan Hospice Society
Yvonne Taylor, North Okanagan Community Health Service Administrator, Interior Health
