Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ)

Authors: Kendall Ho, John Pawlovich, Shannon Berg, John Mah, Ray Markham, Helen Novak Lauscher, Kurtis Stewart

Publication date: July 2025

Canada’s health systems are stressed with increasing demands for health care and services. The causes of this stress are multifactorial and include an aging population and a health workforce crisis, with capacity outpaced by growing demands. Access to care is even more challenging in rural and remote communities, many of which are First Nations communities that have unique care needs. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues, precipitating the rapid incorporation of virtual care to deliver health care by use of technologies such as video conferencing. The Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia, the First Nations Health Authority, the BC Ministry of Health, and the University of British Columbia’s Digital Emergency Medicine Unit, working together in partnership, have refined a network of virtual care pathways to enhance access and support ongoing patient care. The Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS) network of virtual care services is an integrated, hybrid care model that addresses gaps in health care for rural, remote, and First Nations communities, as well as pan-provincially in British Columbia.