The Tla’amin Nation Health Department leads a holistic, community-rooted health system designed to restore wellness for current and future generations. Our model recognizes that many of today’s health challenges stem from historical colonization and the targeted disruption of our core family support network. We are working to rebuild that foundation through connection, culture, education, and wraparound, client-centered, multi-faceted care.
Our goal is to restore wellness through an integrated model combining Western health standards with Tla’amin traditional teachings, focusing on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being across the whole lifespan.
Department Summary
We operate the region’s largest and most diverse health clinic, serving both Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations through a client-centered, whole-of-community approach. Our services combine primary care, mental health supports, home and community care, traditional wellness, harm reduction, and public health programs. Every aspect of care reflects Tla’amin teachings, principles. Our services centre around our commitment to humility, integrity, accountability, discipline, and confidentiality.
We are an accredited clinic through Accreditation Canada’s Qmentum program and continue to expand our facilities, programs, and professional practice spaces. Recent years have included the addition of a new clinic, renovations to support continuous service, and new pathways for culturally grounded wellness.
Our goal is a culturally grounded health system that is nimble, responsive, and centered on wellness for all.
We provide primary care (Doctors and NPs), mental health and counselling, home and community care supports, harm reduction services, dental, traditional wellness, chronic disease management, public health programs, and health navigation services.
Our Home & Community Care (H & CC) program helps Elders and individuals who are living independently but need additional support to remain safe and well at home. Services may include home visits from nurses, personal care assistance, mobility and medical equipment, medication support, wound care, chronic disease monitoring, and help coordinating care with hospital and specialist services. H&CC also provides support with medication delivery and medication checks, personal care, post-operative care, meal preparation and delivery, and homemaking services.
We work closely with families to develop personalized care plans that reflect the client’s physical, emotional, cultural, and spiritual needs.
NIHB provides coverage for medical travel outside the qathet region when specialized care is required. Our NIHB team assists with booking travel, submitting transportation requests, explaining eligibility, and coordinating with hospitals or specialist clinics. We help ensure all required forms are completed properly to avoid delays. If you need support for medical equipment, prescriptions, or other NIHB-covered benefits, we can guide you through those processes as well.
We offer a wide range of mental health services, including one-on-one counselling, couples and family counselling, crisis support, trauma-informed care, grief and loss counselling, referrals to specialized services, and culturally grounded healing practices.
Services are available to children, youth, adults, Elders, and families. Our approach integrates Western mental health therapies with Tla’amin teachings, language, ceremony, and land-based healing to support wellness in a holistic way.
Our harm-reduction services meet clients where they are, offering non-judgmental and culturally safe support. Services include access to harm-reduction supplies, substance-use counselling, referrals to detox or treatment programs, case management, safety planning, and ongoing support for individuals and families. We also participate in regional initiatives such as the BC Centre for Substance Use drug checking project. Our goal is to reduce risk, increase safety, and support every person’s wellness journey with dignity.
Our clinic provides comprehensive primary care through Doctors and Nurse Practitioners, offering appointments for check-ups, illness treatment, prescriptions, chronic disease management (such as diabetes, COPD, and heart conditions), and specialist referrals. We also host public health services such as immunizations, flu shot clinics, and preventive health education. Care is provided using a client-centered approach that blends Western medical standards with Tla’amin Nation wellness practices.
Traditional wellness is woven into every part of our health system. Clients may access cultural practitioners, ceremonies, teachings, language-based healing, and land-based activities such as harvesting, canoe teachings, or gatherings on the land. Traditional healing is offered alongside Western medical care—not as a separate service—so clients can receive support that reflects the whole person: spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical. Our approach reflects Tla’amin values, intergenerational knowledge, and the belief that wellness comes from connection to culture, family, and community.
Our Case Manager Navigator helps clients understand and complete NIHB travel requests, PwD (Persons with Disabilities) forms, treatment assessments, and any documents requiring NP, RN, or social worker sign-off.