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91ƵWe do it because we care91Ƶ: Supporting those most in need is rewarding

Women in Business: Outreach Urban Health
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Dana Jones at Urban Outreach. (Photographer: Aaron Hemens)

In this 30th edition of Women in Business, women were interviewed who are employed in front-line positions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These women share their stories of overcoming negativity, working with the community and turning unpredictable situations into something positive91Ƶ in the hope that their perseverance and success will become the guiding light for the next generation of women in business.

Women in Business shows who the movers and the shakers are in Kelowna and that there is always a space to share stories of successful women.

As soon as you walk through the doors of Outreach Urban Health (OUH) in downtown Kelowna, you know you91Ƶre amongst people who care.

The clinic houses nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, mental health and substance use clinicians, and family doctors. All of them support those who are homeless or dealing with mental illness, substance use, as well as people without access to traditional healthcare services.

Dana Jones is a member of this unique team. She graduated from the University of British Columbia91Ƶs Masters of Nurse Practitioners program in 2008, arriving at OUH in 2013. She has also worked on Vancouver91Ƶs downtown eastside, in hospital emergency rooms in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

91ƵIt probably stems from my childhood,91Ƶ said Jones. 91ƵI actually wanted to be a marine biologist. Then I realized you don91Ƶt actually get to swim with the dolphins, you91Ƶre pretty much stuck in a lab all the time and I91Ƶm a much more sociable person than that. I liked biology. I liked people so nursing seemed like a good fit.91Ƶ

Personal tragedy and a need to help others were also factors in her decision to focus on nursing.

91ƵMy favourite uncle died of HIV when I was 11 years old,91Ƶ added Jones. 91ƵWhen I was in nursing school, we had two extended friends and family members die of HIV, secondary to drug use. When I was working in nursing school at St. Paul91Ƶs (hospital), which had a lot of marginalized IV drug-using population, and the poor quality of care that I saw these people receiving within the healthcare system really drove me, and I focused my whole undergrad basically on the marginalized population. I91Ƶve always sort been driven for that social justice, social equity, health equity lens of providing care.91Ƶ

Another member of the team, Catherine Birtwhistle, received her Masters of Nursing from the University of British Columbia in 2012, and then her Nurse Practitioners Masters while living in Toronto, graduating in 2016. She also felt a draw and a need to help others.

91ƵI grew up in Yukon and worked with many First Nations people,91Ƶ said Birtwhistle. 91ƵWhen I did my masters, I did research that focused on improving health outcomes for Aboriginal women, and so all of my positions I91Ƶve primarily worked with marginalized populations where health care was difficult to access and it was just shocking that a lot of people weren91Ƶt getting any primary care, in particular in rural settings.91Ƶ

Birtwhistle also spent time working in northern B.C., as well as Haida Gwaii. She joined OUH after her husband had a job transfer to Kelowna in August 2021.

91ƵWe91Ƶre connecting with people who struggle to get equitable care,91Ƶ explained Birtwhistle. 91ƵI feel like our clinic, our team, our whole mindset here is to try and reach people who are struggling and work within their parameters. That means we91Ƶre going into shelters, going out on the street, and helping people who typically have a hard time going into a clinic or a hospital.91Ƶ

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged OUH in providing care, services, and resources to their clients, Birtwhistle and Jones credit the entire team for going above and beyond.

91ƵOur clinic was sort of a meeting place for the community and the waiting room was quite busy at times,91Ƶ said Jones. 91ƵIt drew people in, having the comfort of a safe place to be, and we could capitalize and grab those people and say 91Ƶhey, you91Ƶre overdue for this, or hey, you need to come in for this.91Ƶ What was really amazing is the medical office assistants upfront, they knew everybody. They know where they live, where they91Ƶre staying, who their friends are, who to pass messages on to because they don91Ƶt have phones or emails. So it91Ƶs really cool to see how that whole team has to come together to make this clinic work.91Ƶ

Talking with Birtwhistle and Jones you understand that they feel the struggles of their clients. They91Ƶve seen how they are marginalized. They91Ƶve seen some die. It can be difficult to process. Again, they credit the team they work with to get through difficult circumstances.

91ƵOur staff here, we all care so much and genuinely you just have to push through,91Ƶ she said. 91ƵSeeing people do well with the work that we91Ƶre doing with them is what helps us keep going. Seeing someone finally get treatment for their addiction, HIV or Hep C, that91Ƶs where we91Ƶre making a difference. You have to focus on that because you do get bogged down. COVID has been extremely hard. A lot of our patients choose not to be vaccinated. We understand the trauma people are going through, and it91Ƶs okay. We91Ƶre still going to care for you.91Ƶ

91ƵWe91Ƶre in it together, we support one another,91Ƶ added Jones.

Jones took the whole month of October off, saying she was burnt out and sick as was her husband.

91ƵI was overloaded. I come into work and I91Ƶm busy on a Friday and I91Ƶm stressed and it91Ƶs like okay, what can we do? We91Ƶll support that. Everybody pitches in and that91Ƶs what makes it manageable. It91Ƶs relationship building. That91Ƶs what gets people in. That91Ƶs what gets people connected. That91Ƶs what gets people staying engaged with care and making changes in their lives,91Ƶ she said.

It91Ƶs the connections they make with clients that are the most rewarding part of what they do.

91ƵIt91Ƶs always been the relationships,91Ƶ said Jones. 91ƵIt91Ƶs why I stopped working emergency. I91Ƶd follow my patients up when they were 91Ƶtransferred to ICU to make sure the transfer was right and the patient was safe. But it wasn91Ƶt my job. I needed to pull back. So to do primary care and have that longevity and the longitudinal care, that really suits me.91Ƶ

91ƵWe do it because we care,91Ƶ added Birtwhistle. 91ƵThis is the kind of work that you have to care about people. It91Ƶs not just a job. I would say our leaders are totally aligned with us. They listen when we say 91Ƶthis is the issue, we need more support for this.91Ƶ I think so many of the people in our population that we serve, feel so judged. There91Ƶs so much stigma, and when they come here that91Ƶs out the window. They truly feel accepted.91Ƶ

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Catherine Birtwhistle Urban Outreach. (Photographer: Aaron Hemens)


Gary Barnes

About the Author: Gary Barnes

Journalist and broadcaster for three decades.
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