Our Impact

Office efficiency tools are changing the game for family physicians looking to reduce the time they spend on administrative work. Read about Dr Yao’s experience working with a Practice Support Program coach to implement various office efficiency tools, including AI scribes.

“…if you’re a family doctor who struggles with charting, this is something you should try.”

At the Perinatal Care Forum, physicians and perinatal care professionals gathered to learn more about provincial and regional initiatives supporting maternity care, and provide expert input into the development of both a provincial maternity services strategy and the Perinatal Community of Practice’s strategic plan.

Rural clinicians regularly manage complex and unpredictable emergencies. Designed by and for rural clinicians, The CARE Course brings hands-on training directly to local teams—strengthening emergency care in rural communities and improving access for patients and families across BC.

This December, we look back on 2025 with gratitude for all the family physicians providing care across BC.

British Columbia and other jurisdictions in Canada faced a challenging social and economic landscape that slowed progress on our shared priorities for primary care. We remain determined to continue working together to find new paths for moving forward.

Check out what's happening around BC for family physicians this February 

Through his work with Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation (Canim Lake Band) and with over 45 years of experience as a rural family physician, Dr Bruce Nicolson has seen firsthand the positive impact of relationship-building between physicians and Indigenous patients.

On Haida Gwaii, a team of local doctors and nurses is saving families costly trips off-island by bringing equitable, community-driven surgical services closer to home.  

A secure texting tool is transforming pediatric diabetes care in the Interior—giving families rapid access to clinicians, reducing the likelihood of ER visits by half, and giving kids confidence to manage their condition. Learn how this simple digital solution is reshaping pediatric diabetes care.

Are you looking to connect with those who have a passion for rural health? Registration is now open for the BC Rural Health Research Exchange (BCRHRx).

Nominations for the 2026 BC Rural Health Awards are open until December 15, 2025. These annual Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc) awards honour rural physicians, communities, and residents for inspiring contributions to improving rural health in BC. RCCbc is funded by the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues, one of four committees that are a partnership between Doctors of BC and the BC Government.

A Surrey clinic is proving small changes can make a big impact. Learn how the Hilltop Medical Clinic cut patient wait times from weeks to days—and gave doctors and staff more time for what matters most.

A growing BC initiative is proving that most people identified as allergic to penicillin actually aren’t. By safely assessing patients in community settings, care teams are improving treatment options, cutting costs, and strengthening antibiotic stewardship province-wide.

Through shared learning, the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Skills Group Program is breaking barriers to mental health care—offering early, practical support for patients and physicians, and strengthening access in communities across BC.

A collaborative care team is reshaping maternity care for rural families in Northern BC. Learn how the Chickadee Maternity Collaborative is combining midwifery, physician and nursing care to provide more time, support, and connection for patients while enhancing the well-being of providers.

A new care model is helping rural heart failure patients get to the right dose of their heart failure medications sooner, and reducing travel for specialist appointments, says cardiologist Dr … Continued

Since 2020, the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc) and partners have transformed rural care through Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS).

When Dawson Creek faced a maternity care shortage, local physicians and a midwife launched a program to help expectant parents give birth closer to home—welcomed by loved ones and supported by a strong, connected care team.

A new care pathway developed by Shared Care-funded doctors helps bridge the gap between primary care and specialists with a standardized, evidence-based approach.
 

Physicians in British Columbia are at the forefront of preventive health care, championing opportunistic salpingectomy (OS) as a transformative approach to reducing ovarian cancer risk.

This innovative procedure involves removing the fallopian tubes during a hysterectomy or other pelvic surgeries for women who have finished having children or are undergoing surgery for non-cancer-related reasons.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Skills Groups for Indigenous-only patient groups are increasing mental health care access to a more culturally safe and relevant environment for a patient population that has faced widespread discrimination and systemic racism.

Through team-based innovation and new family practitioners in the Kootenay Boundary region, more than 27,600 residents have been connected to primary care in the past five years. 

Dr Jeffrey Poon’s patients now face shorter wait times for joint replacements, thanks to a team-based approach he implemented through the Consultant Specialist Team Care program, improving efficiency, patient access, and team morale.

Sometimes system change starts with people, not policies. In Surrey-North Delta, creating space for authentic connection between Family Physicians and Community Health Nurses has built trust, teamwork, and lasting relationships—transforming how older adults with complex needs experience care and helping them thrive safely at home. 

New family physicians in rural communities often face professional isolation and complex systems. Learn more about how the East Kootenay New to Practice Physician Network, launched in 2023 with JCC funding, is working to address these challenges by offering mentorship, peer support, and skill-building opportunities.

Many women face hidden heart risks following pregnancy complications. Learn how local physicians and community partners collaborated to create the Campbell River BiRCH Clinic, offering specialized postpartum cardiac care, virtual access, and education to help women protect their long-term heart health. 

Starting September 1, 2025, updates to fee-for-service billing will be implemented for Group Medical Visits that aim to enhance patient care, support patient-physician interactions, and ensure the long-term sustainability of virtual care in BC. Read about these important changes for both specialists and family physicians. 

Policing, as Sergeant Mike Grandia knows, is ultimately about people, not simply enforcement. To support his team and colleagues, Sergeant Granda invited Shared Care-funded physicians to lead a day-long workshop on trauma-informed practices with Surrey Police Service officers and staff.  

Cardiologist Dr Daisy Dulay and pharmacist Michael Matula joined forces to develop a more effective approach to caring for heart failure patients in rural British Columbia.

Urgent appointments are being dealt with more appropriately—in clinic rather than hospital—in Central Saanich thanks to the physician quality improvement project led by family physician Sienna Bourdon.

Dr Bourdon noticed that Saanich Peninsula Hospital emergency room (ER) was being overwhelmed in 2022-23, with more than 1,000 patient visits for medical issues that could potentially have been treated at the Shoreline Medical clinics.

The Ridge Meadows Division of Family Practice (Division) recently hosted BC’s Health Minister Josie Osborne to celebrate the work and collaboration happening in the community’s health care system.

On April 25th, partners and staff presented work the Division is leading to improve health care locally, as well as practice supports to retain physicians, funding partnerships, and strategies to enhance physician recruitment and enable patient attachment.

The Shared Care Committee is funding a range of projects across BC to help address challenges in cancer care.

Alongside the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), BC Cancer, and the Ministry of Health, the committee launched a Call for Proposals in summer 2024. More than 40 applications were submitted, with 15 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) selected for funding.

Priority areas included pain and symptom management, improving diagnostic pathways, and transitions in care (including unattached patients and Community Oncology Networks).

While working in urgent care, walk-in clinics, and hospital settings during the pandemic, Dr Cal Shapiro was so disheartened to see unattached patients coming in with late-stage cancers that he and his colleague, Dr Stuart Bax, decided to do something about it.

Do you use the JCC websites? Tell us about your experience!

We're looking for 8-10 physicians to join one 45-minute Zoom discovery session to answer questions about the JCC websites. Your feedback will be used to improve the website user experience.

Topics include how you navigate the sites and online tools, and identifying improvements.

JCC websites include:

Burnaby Hospital is reducing last-minute surgical cancellations and improving patient readiness through an innovative prehabilitation program. Funded by a grant from Doctors of BC, through the Specialist Services Committee (SSC) and its Perioperative Clinical Action Network (PCAN), the program aims to optimize patient health and streamline the surgical pathway. This initiative emerged from frustrations among anesthesiologists and surgeons who found that pre-admission assessments occurred too late for meaningful intervention.

An innovative health initiative is reshaping patient care in Victoria, reducing hospital stays while delivering equal or superior medical outcomes. Launched in 2019 by Drs. Shauna Tierney and Elizabeth Crisci, the Hospital at Home (HaH) program provides comprehensive hospital-level care directly to the homes of low-risk adult patients, offering the comfort and convenience of receiving medical services in a familiar environment.

Medical imaging is going green in BC.

Computed tomography (CT) scanners and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines throughout BC consume hundreds of thousands of kilowatt-hours per year, but the Shared Care-funded CT Green project team believes they have found a way to save time, money and energy in medical imaging.

The Shared Care team sat down with attendees at the Shared Care Partners in Care event in Victoria, on October 17, 2024. Dr Cal Shapiro, Dr Stuart Bax, and April Bonise met with the Shared Care team to provide insights into their experience at this quality improvement-focused conference.

Shared Care (SC): Thank you for taking the time to chat with us today. Firstly, were there any “a-ha!” moments for you today?

The prospect of a surgical procedure can be stressful for patients, who worry they may have not done all they can to ensure they’re in an optimal state to undergo the procedure.

The Shared Care-funded, and Specialist Services Committee-supported Preoperative Risk Assessment and Triage Tool (PRATT) hopes to alleviate those concerns among patients and physicians.

It started with one phone call. In 2023, four doctors drive along Highway 97 as the early morning summer sun kissed the Coastal and Rocky Mountain ranges. Travelling from 100 … Continued

A Rural Pre-Medicine program started in the Kootenays 10 years ago to bring more doctors to rural communities is proving successful as a launching pad for careers in professional health. Takaia Larsen and Jonathan Vanderhoek, RPM Program Coordinators at Selkirk College in Castlegar, say the partnership between the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues (JSC) and Selkirk College in 2014 has been effective in improving rural recruitment and retention. The JSC funded the program.