Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer, has issued the following statement to make sure children in B.C. are up to date on all their vaccines as part of back-to-school preparations:

People are receiving safe, timely acute care from their own homes through the newly expanded Hospital at Home (HaH) program at Cowichan District Hospital (CDH).

People living in the Williams Lake area will benefit from more access to team-based health care with a new urgent and primary care centre (UPCC) coming in early 2025.

More people in the Mission area will benefit from a new state-of-the-art computed tomography (CT) scanner that is now operational at Mission Memorial Hospital.

People in Oliver, Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls will have enhanced access to health care as the Province expands the Provincial Rural Retention Incentive (PRRI) program to the region.

People in the North are one step closer to enhanced acute care and a dedicated cardiac unit with the approval of the business plan for a new patient-care tower at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC).

More cancer patients, especially those living in rural and remote areas, will benefit from improved access to life-saving cancer care as the Province further invests in medical-travel supports, reducing costs and financial barriers.

People in Richmond and surrounding areas are a step closer to a new acute-care tower following the release of candidates shortlisted to advance to the next stage of Phase 2 of the Richmond Hospital redevelopment project.

Seniors will be supported to stay in their homes longer with a new virtual service that provides some of the essential support of a long-term care facility in their own home.

In response to the provincial health officer’s decision to end the COVID-19 public-health emergency, which ends the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in health-care settings, the Province is making it mandatory for health-care workers to disclose their immunization status as a way to help keep people safe.