Lytton Health Services

Interior Health (IH) is continuing its planning for implementing health services and a permanent health facility in the community following community engagement through April, May and June of 2024. We are extremely appreciative of all the feedback and information we have received from the community on IH’s proposed concept plan and we are committed to continued engagement with community members, leaders and health care partners as this project progresses. One of the key takeaways from the most recent engagement process was the need for more in-depth consultation with Indigenous community leaders, health representatives and members from the Nlaka’pamux Nation.

IH values this input and the opportunity for follow up. Our leaders in Indigenous Partnerships and Clinical Operations portfolios are planning additional meetings this summer, which include invitations to First Nations Chiefs of Councils and Health Directors as well as to our health partners: the First Nations Health Authority, Division of Family Practice and BC Emergency Health Services. We are grateful for the opportunity to conduct this important work on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Nlaka’pamux Nation and IH approaches this work with the utmost respect and humility.

IH also commits to follow up with the community on outcomes from this process. If you have questions about IH's planning, please email EngageIH@interiorhealth.ca.

Interior Health will be seeking community input into a draft health services plan that will guide decisions for the permanent Lytton health-care facility. This engagement will begin in March 2024 and progress through the spring.

The draft health services plan has been developed over the past few months based on community input received in 2023 and other considerations, such as previous usage of services and demographic data.

Lytton and area residents will have the opportunity to provide their feedback on this plan to ensure capital planning proceeds with these considerations in mind. This step is required prior to finalizing construction timelines for a permanent health care facility for Lytton.

We understand next steps related to the permanent health-care facility are very important to people living in this area, and we are committed to sharing project milestones in a timely manner. Details on community engagement opportunities will be posted soon.

Lytton Primary Clinic Clinic Hours:
Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Interior Health’s new primary care clinic in Lytton is now open at 1540 Silo Road, right across from the Tl’kemtsin Health Centre. The clinic is accessible to everyone in the Lytton health services area and beyond. Planning is underway for a more formal opening event this fall and more details will follow.

We want to acknowledge the difficult fire season impacting Lytton and other communities in the health region. IH is committed to ensuring people have access to the health services they need regardless of their location. If the opening date changes because of impacts from fires, we will let the community know as soon as possible.

The new primary care clinic is located on the Lytton First Nation (LFN) lands. IH is leasing space from LFN for the next few years while planning and construction of a permanent facility proceeds. We’re very grateful to LFN for making this possible and for working together with us to deliver health services in the area. We want to also thank them for opening space within the Tl’kemtsin Health Centre so that Interior Health could re-establish primary care services in the community after the 2021 fire.

We look forward to our continued relationship with community and health partners as this project evolves.

Please reach out if you have any questions to EngageIH@interiorhealth.ca and we thank you for your support.

Kathy Doull, Clinical Operations Executive Director at Interior Health (IH), and Yvonne Taylor, Clinical Operations Director, provided an update on the re-establishment of health services on July 20, 2023, as part of the Village of Lytton's community update meeting. Information on what was heard from this spring's engagement sessions as well as an update on the Phase 2 temporary health facility for Lytton was shared. The following questions were addressed during the meeting:

Question: Will IHA new build include assisted living?

Kathy Doull: I can't confirm if it will include assisted living. Part of the challenge is health service guidelines for new builds have changed since St. Bart's was built. Current guidelines require larger than six beds as it was before. So we need to determine what is actually feasible. We also heard the need for other forms of supportive housing and palliative care so individuals can remain in the community living . We have shared the communities desire to have these services and will look at how they can be incorporated in our future plan.

Question: You said, "hopefully lab services" in the temporary building. Is this service not confirmed?

Kathy Doull: I want to confirm our intention to provide lab services in the new building. We say hopefully because we need Telus connectivity and other infrastructure in place so we can move forward with lab services. The other important piece is accreditation and that is required before we can offer that service.

Question: We are aware that the primary doctor virtual service is minimal. Mental Health and substance use supports are mainly virtual. At what level are these being accessed?

Kathy Doull: I can't answer that right now as I don’t have the specific number but can get that for you. I do know individuals are accessing services both virtually and in person, some of them travelling to Lillooett. For virtual services, the challenge is often connectivity of the internet. We do see in other places that people do make use of mental health services via virtual and our goal would be to use our modular building to improve access to citizens to virtual health services in a space where we can also support them.

Question: We are losing long term community members due to lack of health care services (lab and x-ray, etc…). These residents who did not lose their homes waited 2 years in hopes of more reliable health services. Now they are leaving. Is it possible for IH to make some FIRM commitments as to what services will definitely be returning and when… before we lose more residents please.

Kathy Doull: Our initial goal was to add the services we can provide in this current state and then move to enhance these services in interim state as the community infrastructure develops. We want to move in lock step with the community rebuild but really do need infrastructure in place to expand services. We need to think about housing, etc.. Our goal is to expand services. Right now we're focusing on community engagement to find out what services are most desired by community and using these to develop our long term plan for the rebuild by the end of the year. From there we need to get approvals to move forward, so I can’t speak to timelines that depend on other organizations like Ministry.

Interior Health (IH) would like to share a big thank you to residents in the Lytton area for participating in two community meetings on May 2 and May 15 at the Stein Valley Nlakapamux School. We are grateful to the school and the Lytton First Nation for hosting our team and for providing a blessing to open the meetings. People were invited to join discussions with health leaders from several different IH departments and representatives from the Rural and Remote Division of Family Practice and BC Emergency Health Services.

The focus was on the re-establishment of health services in the community, the permanent facility that will be built over the next three to five years and key timelines that are part of this process.

The input we've received from these discussions, as well as feedback through other meetings and online channels over the past several months, will help guide our decision making on the permanent health facility.

Preparation for opening a temporary health facility in Lytton is underway while planning continues for a permanent health care centre in the community.

While planning is underway for a permanent primary care centre in Lytton, a temporary health care facility will be opened by Interior Health (IH) summer 2023. The facility will be located on the Lytton First Nation next to the Tl’kemtsin Community Health Centre. IH will relocate services currently provided at the Tl’Kemstin Health Centre including:

• primary care services five days per week (in person and/virtual primary care options)
• mental health and substance use services
• home health services

Other services are expected to be added later this year. A permanent health care facility for Lytton is planned in the next three to five years. This project has been managed in three phases including:

• Phase 1 establishment of services - December 2021 to present: Currently, primary care, home health, and mental health and substance use (MHSU) services are being delivered at the Lytton First Nation Tl’kemtsin Health Centre.
• Phase 2 interim build and services – Summer 2023: Includes a temporary modular build on the Lytton First Nation site to deliver more comprehensive health services in the community and to the surrounding First Nations communities. The installation of this facility will be completed in the summer of 2023.
• Phase 3 permanent health services and a newly built health-care facility – three-to-five year window: Preliminary planning for permanent health services is underway and a community-wide engagement program will help guide decision making on Phase 3.

Interior Health presented its health services engagement plan for Lytton at a community meeting, Feb. 23, which outlined activities and tools that will be in place to support engagement with community members and stakeholders over the next few months. Questions from the meeting included:

Will a pharmacy be opened in Lytton?

Interior Health, the First Nations Health Authority, the Ministry of Health and the BC College of Pharmacists are talking and working on a solution. Answered during the Community Meeting (1:11:27)

Will Interior Health be meeting with the Village of Lytton?

Yes, Interior Health is planning to talk with the local leaders and councilors. Interior Health would like to use some of the Village of Lytton communications channels to share information about upcoming engagement activities with residents. Answered during the Community Meeting (1:11:50)

Will there be a temporary ER building with doctors on-call?

At this time we are continuing to offer primary care services in the region and IH will review what urgent services can be managed locally. However emergency services will continue to be in place in Lillooet.

IH representatives have been meeting with important organizations such as Ministry of Health, Rural and Remote Division of Family Practice, Nlaka’pamux Nation Health representatives, First Nations Health Authority, BC Pharmacy Association, and BC Emergency Health Services to plan and support this health care delivery. In the past year, IH has also engaged with Lytton local government representatives and First Nations leaders to hear about needs and ensure the re-establishment of health services is done in an environment where participants feel supported in welcoming spaces.

This has included:

• meetings with local health representatives
• presentations to community meetings
• presentations to the Local Health Planning Table committee

This engagement work will proceed throughout the planning cycle for a permanent health facility in Lytton.