Submitted by Interior Health
Interior Health has hired RN Angela Semrick as a new certified diabetes educator at the Barriere Health Centre. Starting Sept. 11, she will spend one day per week providing diabetes education, in addition to her regular role as a public health nurse.
“People in Barriere will already be familiar with Angela and the great work she does,” says Sharlene Lively, Interior Health’s Community Integrated Health Services rural manager responsible for Barriere. “We’re so pleased that she will be able to add this new role to her responsibilities. It’s such great news for Barriere residents who live with diabetes.”
Lively says a diabetes educator previously provided service about four hours once every two weeks at the health centre. However, after that nurse resigned, patients travelled to either Clearwater or Kamloops to access this specialized service.
“We knew there were patients with diabetes in the region – it’s one of our country’s most prevalent chronic diseases,” Lively says. “We identified this as a community need, and that’s why we hired Angela and expanded the service to one day each week.”
Semrick will spend the first few weeks planning and organizing the program, and then will begin seeing patients on Fridays. For more information on how to access the program, contact the Barriere Health Centre at 250-672-9731, or see your family physician for referral.