A home service that opened their doors in Prince George last year is expanding to the City of Williams Lake.
Nurse Next Door Chief Operating Officer Sandra Shannon says their goal is to partner with nurses across Northern BC who share their vision.
“When we were looking at opening in Prince George, we were talking to our colleagues and networking, letting people know what we were going to do.”
“Everybody became very, very excited about it and one of those people was Dana who lives in Williams Lake. When we told her what we wanted to do and the type of services we wanted to do, she became very excited and engaged and wanted to duplicate that in her own community.”
Shannon says as the population ages the demand for healthcare will continue to increase and adds that additional and alternatives such as Nurse Next Door will be key for people who are requiring supports to stay at home as long as possible.
She says although they already have some services available, they are looking at being fully operational in the next few months.
“In smaller communities, there often isn’t the population to really support an independent business. By doing it, by branching the Prince George office into other communities, we can really offer full support to each community.”
“So we’re starting by branching out into Williams Lake primarily because of the caregiver who we have there who is really excited to be offering services.”
Shannon and her husband, who has been working in healthcare in Northern BC for almost 15 years, began offering services through Nurse Next Door to the Prince George area last November.
She says although they are still gauging what the demand will be in Williams Lake and area including Quesnel, they are anticipating to hire 20 to 30 registered care aides over the next 2 years.