This year, at the 2017 BC Rural Health Conference, RCCbc recognized one Northern Health rural physician and three organizations in the community of Fort St. John, for their contributions to community excellence.
Dr. Nicole Ebert was the recipient of the Award of Excellence in Rural Medicine: Lifetime Achievement for her contributions to care in Vanderhoof and northern BC over the past 20 years. Her medical practice includes office, emergency, hospital, obstetrics, and surgery, and she also serves as a preceptor for the rural residency program within the UBC Department of Family Practice. She has held multiple leadership and administrative roles, has a passion to improve the care of rural patients, and is actively involved in the Rural Physician Mentoring Program.
The North Peace Division of Family Practice, Northern Health, and the city of Fort St. John were the recipients of the Rural BC Community Award. The Rural BC Community Award recognized the North Peace Division of Family Practice, Northern Health, and the city of Fort St. John as joint recipients for their collaborative handling of the 2013 primary care crisis in Fort St. John. This diverse group of physicians, local government officials, and health authority representatives developed strategies to recruit and retain physicians and implement new models of service delivery to provide appropriate health care for their community.
RCCbc representatives with 2017 BC Rural Health Award recipients, left to right: Dr. Stuart Johnston (RCCbc); Rural BC Community Award recipients Dr. Danette Dawkins, Mary Severson-Augustine, and Dr. Martin Nobar; Dr. Dave Snadden (Rural Doctors’ UBC Founding Chair in Rural Health); Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Dr. Nicole Ebert; Dr. Kirstie Overhill (RCCbc); Dr. Granger Avery (CMA, RCCbc); Dr. Alan Ruddiman (Doctors of BC, RCCbc). Not shown: Rural Innovation Award recipient Dr. Leta Burechailo.