In 1993 the Nicola Tribal Association created the vision of having a health service owned and controlled by our community members.  The development of the vision was pioneered by three leaders within the Scw’exmx Territory.  Since 1993 Scw’exmx Community Health Services Society has grown from a vision to reality and what once was the Scw’exmx Health Authority is now recognized as the Scw’exmx Community Health Services Society when it became a society on July 15th, 1998.

When SCHSS first opened its doors on October 1998 staff consisted of an Administrator, an Administrative Assistant, and three Traditional Support Workers.  SCHSS started out in a small downstairs office located at the NVISA building in downtown Merritt and made two moves before reaching its final destination at #103 – 2090 Coutlee Avenue.  Today SCHSS employ 12 staff and have satellite offices situated within the three communities it serves.  

SCHSS provides health service to the three rural bands of Coldwater, Nooaitch and Shackan:

Coldwater band is the largest of the three bands with a population of 740 members and located 14 kilometers from Merritt

Nooaitch band is the second largest of the three bands with a population of 197 members and located 23 kilometers from Merritt

Shackan band is the smallest of the three bands with a population of 114 members and located 48 kilometers from Merritt

The three communities are adjacent to the following cities:

City of Kamloops  85 kms from Merritt

City of Kelowna  110 kms from Merritt

City of Vancouver  300 kms from Merritt

Transportation:

All transportation to and from each community is by private vehicle only.  There is a taxi company in Merritt, however, it is very expensive to travel to the communities.  Merritt also has a bus service but this does not extend to the Villages.  There are two private air strips, which are located in Douglas Lake and Quilchena Ranch properties.  In addition, there is a small public air strip for the town of Merritt.  All commercial flights are routed through Kelowna or Kamloops.   Greyhound Canada operates a bus depot in Merritt.

Although all three communities are located outside of the city centre (minimum of 20 minutes in good weather), the road conditions are considered good, weather permitting.    Some of the roads through the reserves are paved and some are gravelled but maintained regularly.  Accessibility to some areas in the winter and spring months may require four-wheel drive.

Travel distance to health care providers can have serious implications for the provision of health care services and in some circumstances are considered a barrier. 

Culture and Language:

The three communities are of the Nlha’7kapmx Nation and linguistic group (Thompson).  These Bands are all members of the Nicola Tribal Association and share some programs under this entity.