June 14, 1993. A Monday night like any other, but one that would quietly spark something lasting. Bruce Saunders walks into the auditorium at the Eric Martin Pavilion at Royal Jubilee Hospital with a mix of purpose and nerves. He sets up the data projector, checks the cables, slides in a VHS tape, and brings Cannery Row—John Steinbeck’s tender ode to misfits and community—to life on the screen.
The holiday season brings joy and celebration, but it can also bring about challenges—from changes in health care schedules to added emotional stress.
On World Suicide Prevention Day, Island Health mental health and injury prevention experts are encouraging everyone to break the silence surrounding suicide and to make space for help and hope.
We invite anyone who has been impacted by the toxic drug crisis to remember their loved ones at in-person or digital interactive memorials as a part of International Overdose Awareness Day.
Summer is here, ushering in the unofficial festival season. Island Health has tips for festival fun to help keep the vibes high and risks low.
Island Health now offers Virtual On-Demand Urgent Psychiatry, giving adults in five rural hospitals evening and weekend access to psychiatric care via secure virtual consultations.
Island Health is recognizing the founder of a charity and a local counselling group for their exceptional efforts to help people experiencing mental health and substance use challenges.
For Beth Haywood, connection was more than support—it was survival. Now six years sober and a peer coordinator with Island Health, she credits the life-changing relationships she made along the way as the cornerstone of her recovery.
A youth suicide prevention program that has supported thousands of young people in Greater Victoria is expanding to more school districts on Vancouver Island, thanks in part to an Island Health Community Wellness Grant Program.
International Overdose Awareness Day is the world’s largest annual campaign to prevent toxic drug poisonings, and remember, without stigma, those who have died.