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Van to provide mobile health service to students in Nanaimo and Ladysmith

Pregnancy and STI testing among the services to be offered
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A van, paid for Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation, will begin offering services such as immunization and pregnancy testing to teens in Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools come the fall. Pictured here are Janice Perrino, left, Esther Pace, Erin Kenning, Marcia Fukunaga, Wilma Arruda, and Tracy Hogeweide. (Submitted photo)

Public health nurses will roam the Nanaimo area in a van beginning this fall, offering information and immunizations to youths.

In a press release, Island Health said the van, provided by the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation, will service the Nanaimo-Ladysmith area and is intended to reduce barriers to allow youths to access care. It will provide mobile service for youth wellness and offer sexual health information, birth control, testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, immunizations, harm reduction and mental health and substance use supports. In addition, referrals to other health providers for youths up to age 25 years old will be provided, the press release said.

Esther Pace, public health manager for Nanaimo, said it is important to remove barriers in order to allow youths access to care.

“Our public health teams met with high school students to determine what their health concerns were and how to provide these services in a confidential way,” Pace said in the press release. “The result is a mobile service that will meet youths where they are in the community to provide greater access to care.”

Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, for its part, was pleased to partner with Island Health. Don Balcombe, school district assistant superintendent, said he is delighted the public health team will be able to directly provide service to high school students.

“We … appreciate involving our students in determining what services should be provided through the van, as well as including student voices in its advertising and promotion,” Balcombe said in the press release. “More students will now have easy access to health services.”

Janice Perrino, retired foundation CEO, said the non-profit is always willing to offer help in the community.

“It’s not always possible for youths to go and get the health care they need, so reaching out to them with this van is an investment in their long-term health,” Perrino said in the press release.

Sheila Malcolmson, Nanaimo MLA and B.C. minister of mental health and addictions, said the service will benefit its coverage area.

“It’s critical that when youths need resources to support them, we listen,” Malcolmson said in the press release. “We are bringing together health services in one place and making them mobile … This is a critical step to reducing barriers to mental health and substance use services and helping young people thrive in their communities.”

READ ALSO: Ellis-Perry takes over for Perrino as hospital foundation CEO


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