Vulcan Community Health Centre
Our New Entrance
Job Opportunity: The Vulcan Community Health Centre is always in search of healthcare workers from different disciplines. For nursing positions, please send your resume to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or drop it off at the hospital. For other positions, you can drop your resume off at the hospital and ask to have it forwarded to the appropriate manager or look on the AHS website for Job Opportunities to see what is needed in Vulcan. If you are looking for casual work, Casual positions are also available for RN's, LPN's and HCA's as well as in other departments in the hospital.
Congratulations to the Vulcan and County Attraction and Retention Committee, the 2022 winners of the RhPAP Community Rhapsody award. View the video below:
YouTube
RhPAP Blog
https://rhpap.ca/news-events/rural-alberta-health-care-heroes-receive-well-deserved-recognition/
RhPAP NEWS ARTICLE
A Message from the Vulcan Community Health Centre - May 1, 2020
... If you are in immediate danger…call 9-1-1 ...
... Go to the nearest emergency room ...
... or urgent care centre ...
Need immediate help?
- Distress Centre Calgary - Call 403-266-HELP (4357)
- Vulcan RCMP – Complaint: 403-485-2266. Admin: 403-485-2267
- Vulcan Regional Victim Services Society – Support and information for victims of crime and tragedy.
- Family Violence Info Line, 1-403-310-1818
- Rowan House Emergency Shelter, emergency shelter and support for women fleeing domestic abuse, community outreach and healthy relationship workshops , 403-652-3316, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Need someone to talk to? 24/7
- Addiction Helpline
- Call 1-866-332-2322. Translation services are available.
- Mental Health Helpline
- Call 1-877-303-2642. Translation services are available.
- Health Link
- Call 811 to speak with a Registered Nurse about your health concerns.
- Homelessness emergency, Vulcan Regional Food Bank Society
Vulcan FCSS and Food Bank 403-485-2192 (open 8-4:30 pm) - Crisis Hotline, 403-485-5846 or 24 hour 1-877-303-2642
Vulcan Community Health Centre Help
Are you losing control…angry, stressed, frightened?
It is a fact that in pandemics there is an increase in domestic violence and child abuse.
We care and there is help available at the Vulcan Community Health Centre.
Call and get help for yourself, your family or your loved ones.
Contact:
Heather, Registered Social Worker
Mental Health Clinician Vulcan Community Health Centre
403-485-3356
Meet Some of our Staff:
November 2024:
Glen Savrtka: Physiotherapist
Glen graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in Physiotherapy from University of Alberta in 2001. In August, Glen will have worked in Vulcan for 23 years. He said that his dad was a paramedic in High River for over 20 years and he was raised in a small town. Because of that, he gravitated toward living and working inhealthcare in a rural community. He likes the rural work environments as they tend to be slower paced than larger centers and have a stronger sense of community. Glen does not live in Vulcan as his wife’s employment headquarters are in Calgary so they live midway in between. However, his daughters attended daycare in Vulcan and his oldest went to Grade 1 locally. He says they look back with fondness on their “Vulcan Days”.
Generally, Glen speaks with fondness of his profession. He says physiotherapy is a helping profession, one that (hopefully) will provide a benefit to the members of the community with whom he works. It has a strong basis in science, which also greatly appeals to him. Also, working directly with people is very rewarding. As with most health professions, physiotherapy also has its challenges. There are times when, despite best efforts, you do not provide as much help as hoped for. Sometimes, expectations of clients or their families are unrealistic. In the public healthcare setting, physiotherapy is also not immune to longer wait times than ideal due to budgetary constraints. He goes on to tell us that this profession, particularly in a rural setting, allows you to be creative as you collaborate with clients with the goal of improving the physical aspect of their lives. It is always interesting, and no two clients are alike. Unquestionably one of the best parts of working in Healthcare in Vulcan are the members of the healthcare team with whom I work. When asked what words of advice he could offer his Vulcan work environment he says, “Vulcan offers a wonderful opportunity for someone looking to live and work in a rural community. It is safe, charming and has the services that most people need in their day to day lives.
We want to extend a great big THANK YOU to Glen for his 23 years of dedicated service to the Vulcan Community.
Dr. Sharlene Hudson: Physician
My name is Sharlene Hudson. I have been a rural family doctor since 2005 and graduated from the U of A medical school and Rural North Rural family physician program out of Red Deer. I have been working in Vulcan since 2007 after two years of rural locums across the province. I love working in Vulcan as the staff is very family like and we can all joke around together but also work well as a team. Also, the patients generally are very appreciative of our care and we look after multiple generations of families which is very rewarding. Our Hutterite patients constantly bring us yummy buns and treats in thanks and we can buy chickens and turkeys right out of our hospital lobby! I have five children but live close to High River as my husband also works in rural as a psychiatrist but mainly out of Claresholm so High River made more sense for our home base. I love continually being challenged to learn new ideas and skills to serve our community. I find doing very occasional impactful procedures challenging - such as intubating and inserting chest tubes. However, there is so much specialist support these days. I don't have any amusing anecdotes but there are many both funny and frustrating stories of rural patients showing up very late in their disease process as they just shrugged things off for quite a long time and were cursed at by myself or other doctors for this.
One amazing story of how cohesive our group is, is that on the last day of my clinic before getting a double mastectomy for breast cancer, all of the support staff, nurses and doctors wore some pink to show their support. You won't experience this kind of warm fuzzies elsewhere. It just goes to show what a team we are and that we all work together to show our appreciation for each other and take exceptional care of our patients.
Many thanks to Dr. Hudson for her dedicated service. Her patients really love her.
Shannon Horkoff: Recreation Therapist
I took my Recreation Therapy diploma at Mount Royal College in Calgary. After 2 years of college in the city I knew I wanted to go back to rural. I worked for a year with special needs in High River & travelled abroad for a year. I came home very poor but with a travel bug so I was thrilled to find a position close to home so I could live at home & travel more. My plan was not to stay in Vulcan. However, I met my husband a local farmer thru a co-worker & mutual friend. I took my Recreation Therapy diploma at Mount Royal College in Calgary. After 2 years of college in the city I knew I wanted to go back to rural. I worked for a year with special needs in High River & travelled abroad for a year. I came home very poor but with a travel bug so I was thrilled to find a position close to home so I could live at home & travel more. My plan was not to stay in Vulcan. However, I met my husband a local farmer thru a co-worker & mutual friend.
I was hired as a Recreation Aid in Oct 1994 when the LTC unit first opened, a forward way of thinking to utilize empty acute care beds, fill the communities need of more LTC spaces & bring more employment opportunities. This 15 bed LTC unit is the perfect size allowing flexibility to change recreational programming to suit the residents, the day and spontaneous ideas. A few years later the position was upgraded to Therapy Assistant. Eventually I became the Recreation Therapist. After 29.5 years I still love it, my days are never the same.
The best part of recreation is getting to know the resident, their past experiences, how they grew up, career, schooling, and what they enjoyed doing for hobbies. From what I learn from them, I come up with a plan on how to provide quality of life. Nobody wants to end up in LTC (god’s waiting room) but I enjoy the challenge to add more joyful memories for the resident & family. I get to be creative, social; it can be physically challenging & I am always learning. I enjoy the team work with the other disciplines, and the community connections. I used to feel isolated being a 2-person department however as technology advanced, we have developed a rural recreation team & meet once a month to discuss challenges, successes & share resources. What I appreciate the most is what I have learned from the residents, they still have so much to offer. I have learned about places to travel, how to bake bread, tricks to gardening and about the history of our community. This part time position has allowed so much flexibility to raise 4 kids & work on the farm. I could go straight from work to the rink or have them walk to the hospital from school. It has been a blessing to be close to my family. I truly connect with the phrase it takes a village to raise a child. So lucky to have so many caring community members, friends & co-workers to help raise our kids. Although rural communities don’t have a huge variety of sports, & culture. What is offered is affordable because of the amazing volunteers and recreation facilities built by community groups. With program planning I try to integrate the community, utilizing my daughters dance group, 4H kids speeches & community serve, music recitals, co-workers have brought in collections to reminisce about. All of my kids have participated & have volunteered here. My daughter often says she was just as much a hospital rat as a rink rat. I have taken care of my grandparents, worked with my mom, sister & daughter. I am thankful the big city did not call to me as I can’t imagine working anywhere else. I never would have been given the freedom to build the garden, encouragement & support.
My words of advice don’t take for granted what you receive from a rural position & the opportunities a rural community will provide you with. You only get out what you put in; I would say rural has a “fix it” attitude, if there is a challenge we work together to improve the situation.
Many thanks to Shannon for making out workplace fun and always putting the residents first.
Carla Siracky, Registered nurse
Carla graduated from the University of Lethbridge and has been working as an RN for the past 15 years. She grew up in Vulcan County and although she hadn’t planned on working in Vulcan during her nursing education, there was a position available when she graduated and she says “I’m so thankful for that.” She has worked in Vulcan now for her whole career thus far and she really enjoys the variety of ages and concerns she is able to provide care for. She works in a variety of departments including Emergency, Acute Care and Long-Term Care. She says the opportunity to grow and learn a wide variety of skills and knowledge is endless in rural and since nursing is always changing to improve care, it’s definitely never boring! She “absolutely loves our healthcare team and the support and encouragement they offer! I feel like my co-workers are an extension of my family!”She grew up in Vulcan County and has always a enjoyed the safety and community that comes with living in a small town! As for her home life, she loves being close to family and friends and doing life with them! Carla talked about the things that makes her job so rewarding to her: “ I really enjoy being able to work as a team with my colleagues to help and support patients and their families through various healthcare challenges. The appreciation shown by patients and families, whether through a smile, thank you or hug is definitely rewarding and makes you realize that you were able to make a difference for them during a difficult time. Growing up in the county, one of the things I find most challenging, yet in a way rewarding at the same time, is caring for patients and their families who I know well, especially when it comes to end-of-life care.”Carla had some great reasons why she has stayed for 15 years working in a rural hospital: “Vulcan is an amazing place to work! The way the different disciplines are able to collaborate to provide the best care possible is really great! I honestly have to say that the close team that we have is one of the main things that brings an element of fun to our sometimes-stressful job. The variety of scenarios we see makes it interesting and you’re always learning something new!” Thank you, Carla, for being such an amazing and dedicated nurse.
Maurissa Lacoursiere, Occupational therapist (OT)
Maurissa took her undergraduate degree at the University of Lethbridge, then took her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy through the University of Alberta but in Calgary at the satellite campus. She has been an Occupational therapist since 2015. Maurissa grew up in Milo and most of her family is still around there. It was always her hope to be able live close to her family and to work in a rural area. She has been working in Vulcan for 9 years (on and off due to 2 mat leaves.) Currently, she and her family live near Milo. They love the peace and quiet of living on an acreage. She loves that she knows many of her neighbors and the people in the community. She knows the names of her kids’ classmates, and all of the parents personally. There is a strong sense of community and she says “it’s amazing to see how people can come together to show support for common goals.” Maurissa likes being an OT because she gets to help people. She says one of the best parts is that Occupational Therapists look at the whole person, not just one part. She gets to be creative, but also uses research and evidence-based practice to help provide people with the best care. She enjoys that she gets to do many different things and work with individuals in different age groups with many different ailments. One challenge with Occupational Therapy is that not everyone knows what her role is or what she “does”. Her role is to help individuals to be able to do the things they need and want to be able to do regardless of what else is going on medically, physically, or cognitively and to help them do it in the safest and most functional way possible. This often involves equipment recommendations, education, team collaboration, or optimizing home set up. One of the things she loves about working rural is that she gets to do a variety of things and the work is never boring –her scope of practice includes working in acute care, LTC, homecare, and occasionally some outpatients. Maurissa was asked what advice she would give to those considering a profession in a rural community: “Vulcan and its surrounding communities are a great place to work and to live. Small communities offer a great support system, wonderful people, no traffic, more nature, and a safer atmosphere. One of the best things about living in a small town is the people – the people are kind and caring and its often easier to get to know the people around you. The thing I love most about my job it the amazing team that I get to work with. Working in a small rural hospital I feel like we have really great team collaboration. I get to work directly with physio, SW, nursing, pharmacy, physicians, mental health etc. – no one is inaccessible to me and I feel this helps us to provide great patient care. My immediate team in the rehab department is awesome (the best!), but our entire hospital is full of kind, caring and wonderful people. I feel so lucky that I get to be part of this hospital that serves this wonderful community.
Many thanks to Maurissa for her dedicated and kind service.
Thank you from the Vulcan County Health Care Worker Attraction and Retention Committee
Vulcan Medical Clinic Update
- The Vulcan Medical Clinic is open daily.
- clinic hours are Monday to Friday (9:00 am to 4:00 pm)
- Be advised that the doctors are still seeing patients in the clinic for scheduled appointments.
- The “on-call” physician will continue to see walk-in patients following the clinic’s normal protocols.
Doctor Appointments via Telephone
A telephone appointment will be booked for you if:
- you are in isolation or quarantine
- if would like a medical appointment with your family physician but would prefer not to come to the Vulcan Medical Clinic
- To book a telephone appointment, please call the Vulcan Medical Clinic at 403-485-2216 and we would be happy to book a telephone appointment for you with your family physician.
Emergency
- Generally there can be multiple support persons in the ED, however spacing at the site may limit this, (especially if both support persons are from different households).
- Children, who are not patients, are allowed in the ED as long as they can wear a mask.
Visiting in Acute Care:
- Visiting is not currently restricted. For more information see the link below:
https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page17001.aspx
Public Health Appointment
- For Public Health Appointments call 403-485-2285.
- For after hours booking of appointments, call 811.
