On Monday June the 25th, 2018, Dr. Peter Entwistle, along with Councillor Petra Veintimilla and Aarin Frigon (left) (Project Manager for the South Okanagan Similkameen Division of Family Practice) were in Victoria to make a presentation to the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues. They, along with community members from Oliver, Osoyoos, Keremeos, Princeton and surrounding areas, form a Community Coalition that together has spent the past 24 months working on various projects aimed at increasing sustainable healthcare practices in our rural communities.
Some of their notable successes to date include the expansion of a successful Community Worker program from Princeton to Keremeos, and hosting community forums on Chronic Pain throughout the region. In addition to hosting community forums on Chronic Pain, coalition members including Dr. Entwistle have developed curriculum for Group Medical Visits, with the aim of sharing this knowledge province wide.
They have also been working hard on Recruitment and Retention for the whole region, as well as afterhours access and public education. Much of their effort has been focused on creating meaningful relationships with those in different facets of the local SOS healthcare region, and as a result of one of such relationships they are looking forward to the South Okanagan Similkameen being one of the first regions to take part in new Provincial initiatives that will improve interoperability of Electronic Medical Records.
The Coalition thanks the JSC, including Co-Chair Dr. Alan Ruddiman, for their support for this project and looks forward to continuing their work with the stated goal of increasing sustainable healthcare practices in our rural communities.
Write up and photo supplied by Petra Veintimilla