As many may already be aware, the Kootenays have a combination of geology and gas permeable soils that make homes and workplaces susceptible to high concentrations of radioactive radon.  It surprised me to learn that the radiation from radioactive radon gas found in homes and workplaces is estimated to cause 16 percent of the...

Why you should take note: Cases of measles have been reported in Canada. Measles is relatively rare in Canada thanks to high immunization rates across the country. However, Canada will continue to see measles cases related to travel to countries where measles is endemic or there are large outbreaks. Additionally, the United...

The writing appears to be on the wall for 17 full-time equivalent employees at Kootenay Lake Hospital laundry services as Interior Health enters the next stage of a process that will determine the future of its laundry services. IH has started the process to seek Request for Solutions (RFS) from pre-qualified service providers...

Interior Health understands the frustration of local city police but the health authority believes its current program is working to deal with the emotional disturbed part of the population in Nelson Manager of Mental Health and Substance Use service Chris Huston told The Nelson Daily from his office in Cranbrook. Huston was...

Science Matters Vol. 17, No. 4 27 Jan 2015 By David Suzuki In 1997, Canada restricted import and transfer of the gasoline additive MMT because it was a suspected neurotoxin that had already been banned in Europe. Ethyl Corp., the U.S. multinational that supplied the chemical, sued the government for $350 million under the...

January 26, 2015– Today the BC Lung Association released the results of the largest ever community-wide home radon testing project done in Canada.  Getting more British Columbians to test their homes for radon – the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking - is a priority for the BC Lung Association. As is ensuring...

Nearly three-quarters of Canadians living with Alzheimer's disease are women. It's an eye-opening statistic, but it's not news to the many  families whose lives have been altered by the dementia journey. "Women represent 72 per cent of Canadians living with Alzheimer’s disease," says Julie Leffelaar, the Alzheimer Society of...

For the first time in B.C., expectant mothers can participate in virtual visits with their maternity care provider directly from their local family doctor’s office, thanks to new tele-maternity (video conferencing) technology developed as a part of a Shared Care/Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice pilot project. The...

Dear Editor, I’m writing this because I am just livid.My neighbour is 70 years old. She has suffered a stroke, has had two heart attacks, and multiple surgeries on her pancreas. She is not in good health, to say the least. Doesn't stop her though, she was out shoveling snow yesterday! She is leaving tomorrow for surgery on ...

The Ministry of Health and Interior Health are confirming that preliminary testing on a health-care worker returning from West Africa has come back negative for Ebola virus disease (EVD). In keeping with provincial protocols, public health officials have asked the patient to remain within two hours of a designated type two facility – in this […]