It appears that announcements regarding the addition of complex-care beds and changes to the Car 40 program in Kamloops are coming tomorrow, Dec. 1.
That is when Interior Health will make an announcement with the RCMP regarding its mental-health crisis response plan.
It comes following an comments made by Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson during his mayoral report at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“We’ve now got four of 20 complex care beds [that] are going to be opening in either December or early January. I’ve also met with complex care operators to see what kind of operation they run and things like that,” he said.
“I’ve also spoken to [IH President and CEO] Susan Brown about the newly named Car 40. They’re going to be having the announcement here in the next week.”
When asked for clarification on the NL Morning News today, here’s what the Hamer-Jackson said.
“I did phone Susan Brown and apologize because its not my place to announce things that are going to be taking place so I just as soon not talk about that and maybe wait until Interior Health wants to announce that,” he said.
Kamloops Mounties and local politicians have long been calling for a second Car 40 program to be implemented in the city. It pairs a mental-health nurse with an RCMP officer when it comes to responding to calls that involve mental-health situations, but only operates on four days a week and during daytime hours.
It is not clear whether there will be a change in the hours of operation to the Kamloops Car 40 program or it will be renamed.
As for complex care housing, meant to address the needs of people with overlapping mental-health challenges, substance-use issues, trauma, and brain injuries, who are often left to experience homelessness, it was in March when B.C. said it was working with Interior Health, BC Housing and other local service providers to bring it to Kamloops and Kelowna.
In January of this year, then-attorney general, now Premier David Eby, told the former Kamloops council that Kamloops was a “priority” for complex care beds.
In an email to NL News, Interior Health said it is “very grateful for our engaged mayor” as they continue to plan services that meet the needs of Kamloopsians.
“Although we like to coordinate announcements to involve everyone, there isn’t the need for an apology,” Michaela Swan said, referencing the mayor’s call to Susan Brown.
“At the end of the day it is no secret there’s ongoing work to grow services to meet the needs, and it’s about IH working collaboratively with CoK to design and meet these very important community needs.”
As for the upcoming announcements, she said, “Interior Health continues to work with the City of Kamloops to discuss opportunities to provide services to support people experiencing mental health crisis,” she said. “On Thursday, Interior Health and the RCMP will share more information.”
“With regards to Complex Care Housing, Interior Health has been planning these new services for sometime, and will provide an update when the services are closer to opening.”
