Prince George, B.C. – If you have ideas on how to best support the health of children and youth then Northern Health wants to hear from you.

In preparation for that the health authority has scheduled a series of consultations entitled ‘Growing up Healthy’ throughout northern, B.C. starting this Thursday.

The sessions will build on the Chief Medical Health Officer’s Child Health report released last month which highlighted supports available for a healthy start for children in northern, B.C. as well as areas that need to be addressed.

The consultations will include community meetings in 12 communities along with nine stakeholder sessions with organizations at work directly with children and youth such as Ministry of Children and Family Development, school districts, and day cares.

There will also be group sessions in select communities and something new – online engagement through a Thoughtexchange online survey on northernhealth.ca.

Feedback gathered through the sessions will be put into a report. That report and the Chief Medical Health Officer’s Child Health report will create an action plan to help address or enhance the services that are identified.

The first meeting is May 19^th at the Lakeside Multiplex in Burns Lake. Other meetings include (for a full listing go to northernhealth.ca):

• May 20^th from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Art & Recreation Centre in Quesnel
• May 25^th from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Pomeroy Hotel in Fort St. John
• June 2^nd from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Ramada Hotel in Prince George
• June 3^rd from 1:00-3:00 p.m. at the Mackenzie Recreation Centre

The meetings will be the seventh time Northern Health has held consultations in the past decade.

The others focused on such areas as general health, cancer care, mental health and addictions, primary care, men’s health and senior’s health.