Prairie North Health Region and Battle River Treaty 6 Health Centre have announced they are joining forces in this year's campaign to get as many residents as possible immunized against influenza.
Community Health Nurses with BRT6 Health Centre are partnering with PNHR public health nurses to deliver flu shots to students in select North Battleford schools and to the general population at public flu clinics in the city.
Conversely, North Battleford Public Health nurses will assist BRT6 nurses to immunize students and others at flu clinics in BRT6 First Nations communities.
"It's a win-win collaboration for both organizations," said Diane Piper, manager of Public Health Services for PNHR and Heather Beatch, director of Community Health with BRT6 Health Centre.
"We share the same goal of protecting all of our populations from illness caused by influenza," added Beatch. "Our aim is to increase access to flu shots for First Nations people on and off reserve. It makes perfect sense to pool our resources to reach as many people as possible."
Piper indicated the support of the BRT6 professionals is critical in helping PNHR expand its flu immunization campaign into North Battleford schools and at several more North Battleford public flu clinic locations.
"We are delighted and grateful to have the assistance of our BRT6 counterparts to reach even more people with our influenza immunization program," said Piper. "Historically, we have a strong working relationship with the BRT6 Community Health Department, so it makes good sense to assist each other in providing a flu campaign that would make it easier for our clients to access".
A complete listing of all BRT6 Health Centre influenza immunization clinics and Prairie North flu clinics is available at www.pnrha.ca/flu.
