By Craig Lindsay
Beginning in June, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients in Kamloops and the surrounding region will have the opportunity to access care closer to home at a new outreach clinic based at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH).
MS is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Due to the complex nature of MS, patients require the expertise of a neurologist and specially trained nurse.
The Kamloops outreach clinic represents an expansion in service, allowing patients who would ordinarily have travelled to Kelowna or the Lower Mainland the option of being seen at Royal Inland for a consultation with local neurologist Dr. Mudassir Iqbal.
A nurse from the MS clinic at Kelowna General Hospital will travel once a month for two days to support Kamloops area patients. The MS clinic in Kelowna will continue to provide day-to-day support for all MS patients within Interior Health.
“Many of the MS patients from Kamloops and the surrounding area travel to Kelowna to meet with the neurologist and the MS nurse,” said Kris Kristjanson, health service director for RIH. “With the outreach service now coming to Kamloops, the nurse is going to travel here. One of our new neurologists, Dr. Iqbal, has special interest and experience in treating MS patients.”
The first appointments for the clinic are June 5 and 6. The clinics will be held every month, says Kristjanson.
Kistjanson added that despite having no plans to expand into Merritt, he expects Merrittonians to benefit from the Kamloops clinic’s proximity.
“Merritt patients currently seen in Kelowna, they are already attached to a neurologist who they may prefer to continue to see and that’s fine,” he said. “We’ll look at any new referrals that occur after we start the clinic, they’ll be referred to the clinic service in Kamloops.”
