Our people

Credentialing and privileging:

Before a doctor, dentist or midwife can work in a Northern Health site, they must get appointed as qualified medical staff by Northern Health (NH). This happens through steps taken as part of credentialing and privileging.

• In the 2016/17 fiscal year:
  • 1,017 reappointment applications were sent out to NH doctors
  • 161 new doctor applications were filled out
  • There was a 27 per cent increase in all doctor, dentist, and midwife applications

• Doctors continue to give input into the provincial privileging dictionaries review process

• Developed and put the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) privileging process into place. Seven doctors are currently privileged to provide this service in Northern Health.

Recruiting doctors

• Welcomed the incoming first-year Northern Medical Program students to their studies in Prince George with a lunch event, a tour of the city and the University Hospital of Northern BC, and a stethoscope to mark the start of their journey to practice

• 43 family practice doctors were hired to work in Northern Health over the last year, through several programs which included:
  • 10 doctors from the Practice Ready Assessment – BC Program (which has a three-year return of service).
  • Five doctors from the International Medical Graduate Residency Program (which has a two-year return of service).
  • 11 Northern Medical Program graduates

• By using new electronic and direct ways to market job openings to doctors, the department has been successful in filling some very difficult-to-fill specialty areas in underserved communities in the north.
  • 25 specialists were hired over the 2016-17 fiscal year, including:
    • Anesthesiologists (2)
    • Emergency doctors (5)
    • Psychiatrists (5)
    • Internal medicine specialists (6)
    • Radiologists (2)
    • Obstetrician/Gynecologists (3)
    • Pathologist (1), and an
    • Ophthalmologist (1).

Physician quality

• Co-developed the physician quality improvement proposal and submitted it to the Specialist Services Committee (SSC) in September. The proposal was approved and the health authority will now receive $1.3 million per year to implement this proposal. The NH/SSC Quality Improvement Steering Committee has been formed to provide oversight and 7 new staff were hired to support the implementation.
• Developed and delivered three different co-leadership workshops with various partners: (a) Workplace Conduct & Complaints, (b) Patient Safety Events and (c) Dollars & Sense. Northern Health also received continuing medical education (CME) accredition for these workshops.
• Co-developed a second quality improvement workshop for doctors, who can also take this for their CME credits.
• Developed a proposal to bring secure texting for doctors to rural areas in the north. The project received $100,000 from the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues (JSC).
• Received $75,000 from the JSC to learn how to use virtual visits (telehealth) to improve primary care services in remote communities.
• Moved the Northern Continuing Medical Education (NCME) Program to the NH Physician Services portfolio. Northern Health is working closely with the Rural Coordination Centre of BC look at current doctor education services and what future services there could be in the north.
• Hired a project lead for the Burns Lake Sustainability Plan, which is focused on finding and keeping doctors in Burns Lake. 

Professional Practice staff continue to support the nursing and allied health professions (allied health jobs include pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and those working in labs and with equipment like x-ray machines). In 2016, the province of B.C. passed new regulations on practice (changing the Health Professional Act), which has led to more work within the Nursing professions and also, moving forward, work with Allied Health professions.

Areas of focus include:

Supporting professional practice

• Practice forums were held for professional groups to meet face-to-face to talk about important practice priorities and how to work better together. Groups included speech language pathologists; social workers; and frontline nursing leaders.
• New job descriptions for recreation staff and rehabilitation assistants that will be used across the north.
• Helping occupational therapy and primary care nurses to get more training and education.
• Supporting new areas of practice in providing care such as education for staff on new programs, including Medical Assistance in Dying and Naloxone use for opioid overdoses.
• Two allied health jobs are in high demand and short supply: physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Staff have been working with different groups, including the government, to better understand how to help with future planning for these kinds of jobs.
• The New Graduate Transition Program continues to help new health care professionals in their first year of work (practice). In this past year, funding helped 112 new graduates with extra orientation and education. This is especially valuable for those working in rural communities.
• In 2016, Northern Health hired 95 second- and third-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, through the Employed Student Nurse Program. The program gives students the chance to work as part of a health care team and develop their skills.

Interprofessional practice

• Programs and projects continue to focus on quality improvement, patient safety, and staff recruitment, satisfaction and engagement, as well as helping staff to work together in better ways to help give patients the best care possible.
• Work continues on an Acute Admission form (for patients who have stay in the hospital) that will be used across the north, which will help interprofessional teams to give better care to patients.
• Staff are also working with interprofessional teams who care for patients in the community (outside the hospital). This work is focused on putting together a coordinated, shared plan of care with the patient and their family (using electronic medical records).
• The Regional Dysphagia Management Team (who help patients that have problems with eating, drinking and swallowing) have worked on outreach, consultation, and education for staff. This included putting together a comprehensive guide for teaching therapy and food services staff when and how to use adaptive feeding aids to help residents care patients to stay independent in feeding themselves for as long as possible.
• Northern Health continues work on providing primary care (person and family centred care) across the north. This has included having family members provide input to primary care planning as well.

Person and family centred care

• Northern Health (NH) continues work toward Person and Family Centred Care (PFCC) across the organization. In the past year, many leaders were educated and two new groups with members from across the north were approved. NH staff will now meet regularly with patients, their families and caregivers. The groups will work as partners to improve care and services.