WHISTLER/LIL̓WAT7ÚL AND SḴWX̱WÚ7MESH NATION, BC (June 2, 2023)— A community that rallied together after they risked losing access to healthcare, and a slate of rural doctors who put their communities first are all being honoured at the 2023 BC Rural Health Awards.
The District of Sicamous is being honoured with a Rural BC Community Award and four rural physicians are being honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Dr. Trina Larsen-Soles from Golden, Dr. Robert Fox from Seabird Island, Dr. David May from Powell River and Dr. Charles Helm from Tumbler Ridge will receive their awards today.
All award recipients received a cash prize to support a celebration in their home communities.
RCCbc Executive Director, Dr. Ray Markham, said: “The community and physicians we are honouring with these 2023 awards have gone above and beyond to ensure people have access to the healthcare they deserve. Alongside the people who live in the communities they serve, we are incredibly grateful for the contributions they have made and will continue to make.”
RCCbc presents its annual BC Rural Health Awards at its BC Rural Health Conference, which, this weekend, is being held at the Westin Resort and Spa in Whistler on the traditional, unceded lands of the Lil̓wat7úl and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nations. Recipients of RCCbc’s annual Rural BC Community Award are selected for developing innovative and collaborative solutions to local healthcare issues. Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award must be a rural doctor who has served one or more rural communities throughout their career and significantly impacted provincial, national and/or international rural health.
Profiles of all the winners are included in the attached backgrounder.
Additional resources:
See backgrounder with stories about the 2023 BC Rural Health Award winners.
Contact:
RCCbc Communications: [email protected]
About the Rural Coordination Centre of BC
Led by rural physicians, the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc) is a network that improves the health of rural people and communities across British Columbia. We cultivate relationships and networks, facilitate rural health discussion, coordinate rural health projects, create learning opportunities for rural healthcare practitioners, advocate for a healthy rural British Columbia, stimulate rural health research, and develop healthcare leaders. Funded primarily by the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues, our network partners include healthcare providers and administrators, community members, policymakers, academics, and non-profit and business leaders. We serve all communities covered by the Rural Practice Subsidiary Agreement.