GHCS News

The Galiano Health Care Society wishes to thank everyone who participated in Saturday’s 2013 Wine and Beer Festival – our major fundraiser for the year. For the first time ever we sold out of tickets! (new provincial licensing regulations limit the number of patrons). We apologize to those who could not get tickets this year – next year we will again offer online reservations and pre-ticket sales at venues on Galiano.

A very big thank you to our Festival Coordinator – Ms Sylvie Beauregard – and her busy team of volunteers together with our clinic manager Linda Ruedrich who put in many hours of work over recent months to make the Festival such a success. There are too many volunteers to name everyone, so if you were a volunteer in any capacity, this acknowledgment is for you!

We had incredible support from this year’s wineries and breweries – without their participation the Festival [Read More…]

Jo Rippin- Family Nurse Practitioner

I am delighted to join the team of health care providers at the Galiano Island Health Care Centre.  I thoroughly enjoyed over three months of clinical hours as a student at the centre under the preceptorship of Leanne Rowand, and it is a pleasure to be returning to the community and the Health Care Centre as a family nurse practitioner.  I graduated from UVic’s Master of Nursing program in 2011. Since then I have had temporary work in a few primary care practices in Victoria.

My husband and I have two teenaged daughters and a cat.  Our extended families are spread across the country and Europe, so we enjoy traveling to visit them and to explore new places.  We have always been amazed by the beauty of the Southern Gulf Islands, and have enjoyed visits and stays on Galiano and Pender Islands.  We are looking forward to spending more time getting to know the people [Read More…]

Today we received exciting news! Our application for funding for a full-time nurse practitioner (NP) on Galiano Island has been approved by the Ministry of Health. This will enhance the comprehensive health services already available to islanders. It should also serve to act as an attractive professional team model for prospective physicians. This new NP position will not be a replacement for a full-time physician, and will not affect our advocacy for a full-time physician on Galiano. The next step is for the Vancouver Island Health Authority to post the NP position vacancy and begin the recruitment process.

The Galiano Health Care Society wishes to thank and acknowledge the incredible community support this past weekend through your attendance and participation in the annual Variety Show. This year’s theme of “Radio Galiano” proved to be highly entertaining and both nights we had a sellout for attendance. A special note of thanks to Sylvie, Margaret and Linda for producing the show and Patti for being stage manager – this consumed hours of time and investment of loads of energy – and the result far exceeded expectations. Also thanks to the performers, and to Rock and Marek for their expertise. We are pleased to say that the funds raised will go directly towards purchasing low-flow toilets (to replace our broken versions) and to complete plumbing works to achieve health care infection control standards with hand basins and faucets etc. This facility improvement project will also be a great asset when we describe the [Read More…]

On January 1^st friends of Galiano may have noticed an increase in the bear population on the island. Many  brave and furless bears (well some were rather hairy) came out of their comfy hibernation in their winter splendour to jump into the freezing water at Montague Beach for the benefit of Health Care.

Curious observers and supporters witnessed all kinds of polar bears jumping in the freezing water: tattooed bears, a teeny wheeny
bear (3 years old), elder bears (in their 70s), female and male bears, whole families of bears and, of course, some of the babes of 42.

The GHCS wishes to thank all 37 participants for their courage and commitment. We also owe many thanks to David Middleton, who designed our beautiful poster, to the Galiano merchants who donated prizes, to Linda Ruedrich, Christina Stechishin and Cathy Stephenson for the delicious hot chocolate, to Ken and Bietta Kucille for the tables and [Read More…]

On Saturday October 27th the Community Hall was filled with an eager audience who were witness to a spectacular evening of live entertainment – ‘The Moon and the other side of the Honeymoon’. A big thank you to Gerardo Avila and Veronica Dahl (Performers), Virgina Monk and Dave Ages (organizers), Jackie Bowers, Rock Mackay and Ian Maday for technical support, and the bakers who prepared delicious treats. Also a big thank you to the community of Galiano – your generousity in attendance and donations helped us to collect over $330 for the GHCS.

The 2012 GHCS Wine Festival on Saturday August 11 proved  to exceed expectations. Once again Galianoites came together with friends of Galiano to support the Galiano Health Care Society – a community health centre that relies on public donations to operate. GHCS does not receive any government funding for its operations.

 With 18 wine vendors, a continual supply of freshly made appetizers and snacks, and live music with Brad Prevedoros, over 440 patrons enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the sun. The Lion’s Field was a lively place to be while indulging in wine tasting from a variety of local B.C. and island wineries. Everyone (galianoites and visitors) enjoyed the party atmosphere while maintaining upbeat happy conversations and friendly connections.

 The GHCS is pleased to report that our net profit for the 2012 Wine Festival was just over $14,000.00. Of note, the Lion’s Club Pancake Breakfast contributed over $1000.00 as a donation. [Read More…]

As many of you know, in the middle of May a physician in the Maritimes visited Galiano with his family, and then at the end of July and first part of August he did two weeks of sessional work on the island to further get to know the island and the clinic.  The bad news is that we recently heard that he is, at this time, not interested in pursuing the position.

 The good news is that another physician, this time from Alaska, will be visiting Galianao with his wife later this month to look at the position.  Everything so far indicates that he would be a good fit for Galiano.  He has extensive experience in practicing primary care medicine, and has many interests (kayaking, bird watching, etc.) that he could pursue on our island.  I have had a number of e-mail exchanges with him and so far there don`t appear to [Read More…]