Meet Aekam Bal

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Meet Aekam Bal Interior HomeCare Solutions

Meet Aekam Bal, Clinical Care Manager for Kamloops Interior HomeCare Solutions

Upon talking to Aekam Bal, it becomes immediately apparent that she is grateful for her life, her family and the amazing group of people that she works with at Interior Homecare Solutions.

Born and raised in India, Aekam moved to Terrace in 2008. Although a bit of a culture shock, she adapted to her new Canadian life quickly and she and her husband soon moved to Kamloops where they have been ever since.

A naturally caring person, Aekam is the Clinical Care Manager for the Kamloops office of Interior Homecare Solutions.

Simply put, she wears a lot of hats. As a direct contact with clients, she meets them for the initial assessment to decide which care worker would be a good fit. She also manages the scheduling, creates the care plan, follows up with the client to ensure their needs are being met, and even provides care including assessments and home care visits.

Working with Interior Homecare Solutions since 2016, she is so thankful for the amazing group of coworkers she has.

“We have each other’s back. We work together to ensure the best possible care for each of our clients. The best way to grow as a person is with a strong group of people around you.”

Aekam’s main influence for wanting to become a nurse came from the dedication and selflessness shown from her older sister who is a nurse in Punjab, India. The way her sister cared for others inspired Aekam to seek a similar career.

After spending her early years in Canada learning English and being a stay-at-home mom, Aekam decided, with the encouragement of her husband, to follow in her sister’s footsteps, so she completed her education to obtain her LPN through Sprott Shaw.

Her free time is spent with her husband and 2 beautiful daughters who are 6 and 8 years old. This means shuttling from one activity to another but she still manages to steal the odd moment to hide away with a good book.

She is extremely grateful to her husband who she describes as encouraging her to be who she is today, “he is so patient,” she says.

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Meet Karen Desormeau

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Meet Karen Desormeau, Client Care Manager, Interior Homecare Solutions

The first thing that becomes abundantly clear when speaking with Karen Desormeau, is how much she loves providing care to people in need.

Growing up with a disabled sister who required 24-hour care, Karen quickly learned to advocate for those who require help. Her sister was blind and had cerebral palsy, and so the entire family of 6 cared for her unconditionally day and night. Her sister reciprocated with the kind of love and joy that taught Karen not only how to provide care, but more importantly, that what she received in return, was so much more valuable.

This translated into a career for Karen, starting as a care aid in 1976. Being a small town girl from McBride meant that Karen had to go where the work was and so she spent most of her career between Prince George, Jasper and McBride. Karen trained as an LPN and then went on to become an RN working in palliative care and gerontology.

“Working in all of these roles gives me a complete picture of the care required for a person to live a full life,” says Karen, and she emphasizes that, “each role is as important as the other.”

It is her unique upbringing and full career that makes her a great Client Care Manager—able to balance the demanding combination of nursing and administration. This balance is what makes Karen feel so blessed and grateful for her career, not to mention the fantastic group of staff that Karen works with daily—she feels the full support of the team and Holly (Owner and Director of Operations and Nursing of Interior Homecare Solutions).

While Karen loves to bake and read, her spare time is filled with the joy of family. Married for 43 years, Karen has 3 amazing daughters and 8 adored grandchildren. While Covid restrictions have prevented the number of visits she would like, Karen is extremely fortunate, as a nurse, to be able to visit her 94 year-old mother in a long-term care facility daily.

The most important thing that Karen wants people to know about Interior Homecare Solutions is that the entire team takes such pride in ensuring that clients receive the best care possible with consistent staffing to ensure that the client, their whole family, and the care provider are able to build a strong relationship based on trust and quality care.

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Meet Cynthia Winthrope

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Cynthia Winthrope

Meet Cynthia Winthrope, General Manager, Interior Homecare Solutions.

The sunny Okanagan is a great place to live and work for Cynthia Winthrope, a kind-hearted administrator who loves to keep things organized.

Growing up in the small, northern town of Smithers, BC, Cynthia was anxious to explore the world. After graduation, she headed straight to BCIT to enroll in the Business Management Program, which offered a travel and marketing component. After living in Vancouver for 6 years, Cynthia was ready to explore some more so she made the move to Vernon where she worked part-time at BCAA. Needing full-time employment, she stumbled across a job posting with a new company called We Care, now known as Interior Homecare Solutions.

Working for a company that provides support and care for residents seemed like the perfect fit to Cynthia. She hasn’t looked back and has now been with Interior Homecare Solutions for 20 years as General Manager, in charge of business planning and growth development.

Why has she stayed so long?

The answer for her is easy. She loves the people and she loves to be an administrator and manager. But, also important to Cynthia is to work for a company that makes a difference in the lives of others. Even though she’s not hands-on with clients, her favourite moments are when she gets to speak with them.

“I feel good to be part of helping people,” she says, “I often talk to clients who are so appreciative of our services, it makes me feel like I am contributing in some way.”

Cynthia really wants people to know that there are companies like Interior Homecare Solutions who are there to help.

“Things don’t need to get to a desperate place before you ask for help, resources are available.”

Living in this beautiful community, Cynthia and her family take advantage of the outdoors by biking, hiking, and gardening. Although her two children are grown, she and her husband still spend lots of time with them enjoying all that the Okanagan has to offer. And then there is her cat – a Garfield like character who always needs to be on a diet, thus keeping her quite occupied.

Like many of us, Cynthia dreams for the chance to travel again but in the meantime, she takes great enjoyment in her community, her family and her work.

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Meet Holly Malfair

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Spend any time with Holly Malfair, and you quickly realize that she is exactly where she should be – running a leading British Columbia Home Health Care company. She is a feisty go-getter who demands perfection and loves to be in charge of the situation (she’s also the first to tell you that she’s a Capricorn). Despite her drive to succeed, Holly’s caring nature shines through as she focuses her energy on making sure her employees are happy and content in their careers. This thoughtfulness carries through her tight-knit team as they in turn focus their energy on providing high-quality home care for their clients.

As the Owner and Director of Operations and Nursing for Interior Homecare Solutions, Holly knew from a young age that she wanted to be a nurse. Inspired by her mom who was a nurse, Holly joined the Candy Stripers as a teenager in Merritt. Her experiences there, coupled with a desire to help people, led to a career that has spanned 31 years.

Graduating from Cariboo College in Kamloops (now known as Thompson Rivers University), Holly’s first nursing position was at the Shaughnessy Hospital in Vancouver, where she is very proud to have worked with some of the most renowned spinal cord specialists in the country. This experience led her to work in a variety of hospitals around the province and her tenacity quickly landed her as the Nursing Supervisor of the First Nations Care Facility in Port Alberni.

Wanting to try something new, Holly decided to shift from public to private care. In 1996 she moved to Vernon where she bought a home health care business called WeCare. This was a great move for her as it gave her the flexibility to spend time with her kids and allowed her to enjoy some of her favourite activities like golf, biking and travelling.

Having now owned Interior Homecare Solutions (formerly known as WeCare) for almost 25 years, Holly is so proud of her team and the high-quality care they provide to their clients. Just as Holly wanted the flexibility to enjoy her free time, she is so glad to be able to offer that to her staff — a happy team makes for a great work environment where the staff is able to provide the personalized care that clients deserve.

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