A prestigious national award is being presented to Dr. Kirsten Miller, a long-time member of the Rural Coordination Centre of BC team.
Dr. Miller has won the Canadian Pediatric Society’s Distinguished Community Paediatrician Award, presented annually to someone who has demonstrated a significant contribution to the field of community paediatrics.
The pediatrician is the co-lead of RCCbc’s Sustaining Pediatrics in Rural and Underserved Communities (SPRUCe) program, as well as a founding member of the Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS) Child Health Advice in Real-time Electronically (CHARLiE) pathway.
The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) announced its 2026 award winners on Friday, May 15.
The society will be celebrating the recipients and their work during their annual conference in Ottawa (May 20-23). The CPS Awards honour individuals who have achieved excellence in paediatric research, advocacy, health promotion, and education.
“I have known and worked with Dr. Kirsten Miller as one of our referral colleagues for many years where she has supported our community of Valemount so well. More recently, Kirsten joined the RCCbc Core team, innovating and showing great leadership on the SPRUCe team, and being a valuable member of the CHARLiE team. Kirsten also has numerous leadership roles in her own community and region. Her passion for improving access to pediatric care shines through in everything she does.”
RCCbc Executive Director Leslie Carty said: “We are very lucky to have Dr. Kirsten Miller as part of our team. Her dedication, tenacity and determination make her a tour de force in the effort to strengthen health equity and access to pediatric care in northern BC and beyond. We congratulate her on this prestigious national award.”
RCCbc Executive Director, Medical, Dr. Ray Markham added: “I have known and worked with Dr. Kirsten Miller as one of our referral colleagues for many years where she has supported our community of Valemount so well. More recently, Kirsten joined the RCCbc Core team, innovating and showing great leadership on the SPRUCe team, and being a valuable member of the CHARLiE team. Kirsten also has numerous leadership roles in her own community and region. Her passion for improving access to pediatric care shines through in everything she does.”
Dr. Miller began work as a full-scope consultant general pediatrician in Prince George, on the unceded lands of the Lheidli T’enneh, in 2005. Her work blends hospital and outpatient practice, including outreach clinics to remote communities. She also provides diabetes care to children and youth from across northern BC.
Her non-clinical work is focused on rural pediatrics and its practitioners: raising voices, enhancing connections, and supporting recruitment and retention.
As medical lead for pediatrics for the Northern Health region and a clinical associate professor at UBC, Dr. Miller builds opportunities, scope, leadership potential, and multidisciplinary team development in collaboration with UBC’s pediatric residency and northern medical programs.
Dr. Melissa Paquette, the co-lead of the CHARLiE pathway, and one of two BC pediatricians who nominated her for the award, praised Dr. Miller for mentoring pediatric residents and ensuring that there are opportunities for them to engage with rural practice.
She added that Dr. Miller was a professional connection-maker and an inspiration to others. Dr. Paquette said: “Dr. Miller leads opportunities to colleagues naturally, matching them with their abilities and interests in an uplifting way, always full of hope and passion for improved healthcare for the future.”
Congratulations, Dr. Miller, on this well-deserved award.
