Dr. Joel Kailia was born in Montreal, Quebec and grew up in Toronto. He received a Bachelor of Science from McGill University in physiology and psychology and a master’s degree from the University of Toronto in neuroscience and the study of pain. He trained in family medicine at UBC and shortly afterward moved to Nelson. Dr. Kailia started Community First Medical Clinic in 2008 with a mandate to help those who had been marginalized by our current healthcare system. He has also helped to start two other medical clinics — the Mend Clinic for students at L.V. Rogers High School and the 10th Street Clinic for Opiate Replacement in Castlegar. In 2013 Dr. Kailia opened the KPAC Clinic (Kootenay Pain and Addiction Clinic, now called RISE) without the help of the local health authority. This is a multidisciplinary clinic for patients in the Kootenay Boundary region with pain and/or addiction issues. When he’s not in the clinic Dr. Kailia can be found riding his bicycle, doing yoga, skiing and enjoying the great outdoors in the Kootenays.
Dr. Kailia recently trained in interventional pain therapy and took the pain certificate program through the University of Alberta. His philosophy is a holistic approach to pain and addiction assessment and management.
