Interior Health (IH) has “heard the concerns” of Blue River residents with regards to increasing services at the Blue River health centre, and has hired a Certified Practice Registered Nurse (RN) on a more regular basis since November 2024.
The news comes as a relief to Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) Area "B" director Lee Onslow, who lives in Blue River.
“We needed to change something," she told the Clearwater Times on March 8. "It’s really nice to see that Interior Health listened to community members and has the vision to see how essential the Blue River outpost is, especially now with an RN like Bettina Panio providing care on a regular basis.
"I am very pleased with the increased scope of services being offered now locally, and am delighted that Bettina chose to work in Blue River. Reducing the amount of travel to access medical care is essential for our community members.”
A collaborative approach between IH and community leaders resulted in these increased services to the area thanks to the hiring of Panio. The highly skilled registered nurse is based out of the historical outpost building which provides care for clients living in Blue River, located between Valemount and Clearwater.
Panio brings with her 20 years of experience in emergency and acute care nursing and a desire to be proactively involved in her clients' health needs over the long-term.
“I love the fact that this is a different aspect of nursing for me,” says Panio about what attracted her to her new role in Blue River. “I wanted to do something where we could make people feel empowered to take their health into control and be more aware of it before it can escalate, and I thought that this was a great way to do more and also become more autonomous in my nursing career.”
Panio, who lives just north of Kamloops, travels every week to Blue River to offer health care services at the clinic on Tuesdays from noon to 8 p.m. and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. She has Remote Certified Practice status, which means she is able to support and treat minor care conditions related to eyes, ears, nose and throat; bronchitis; simple urinary tract infections; minor skin infections; minor bites and scratches; and mild to moderate pain at the Blue River clinic. She is also qualified in Reproductive Health Certified Practice, and can offer nursing services that include contraceptive care and sexually transmitted infection care.
As an RN, Panio can treat mild allergies, constipation, diarrhea, head lice and minor stomach issues. Other services offered at the clinic include first aid; nursing assessments; health histories; blood sugar testing; blood pressure, temperature and heart rate checks; staple/suture removal; adult immunizations; COVID/flu immunization clinics; wellness checks; and virtual physician supports.
Part of the new services now includes care coordination, program collaborations, and health systems navigation.
“We just want to provide the best care that we can for this community, and have future endeavours where we can expand health care and take it into areas that are out-of-the-box,” says Panio.
Interior Health's clinical operations manager for Clearwater and Blue River, Heidi Schilling, is grateful to Panio for sharing her skills with Blue River. She is also thankful for the partnership IH has with Community Voices, a team in Blue River, which is comprised of Allison Prest, Darcy Lester and Lee Onslow. Schilling says that the trio "really provide us with incredible feedback. We work very closely with them to deliver services.”
“As the TNRD Area 'B' director, my focus in discussions with Interior Health has been on reducing the need for residents to travel for medical care," notes Onslow, "We are working towards fully integrating the virtual physician supports, educating residents about the basic care accessible within the community, and establishing blood collection services.
"I am very grateful for Interior Health’s investment in Blue River and look forward to the Blue River outpost becoming residents’ first step in accessing health care within the community.”
Panio says that she is enjoying getting to know everyone in Blue River, which she describes as a “hidden gem.”
“Blue River is very deceiving. When you drive through it you might not think there’s much to it, but there really is. It’s a very tight-knit community. Everyone knows everyone and they take care of each other. They want to make sure they have enough services for their growing little community.”
To learn more about the services available at the Blue River health centre, go to https://www.interiorhealth.ca/locations/blue-river-health-centre.
