Northern Health Presidents Council (NHPC)

Background & membership 

• NHPC started in 2020, it was supported by FE to enable physicians to discuss problems across the region, particularly the COVID19 pandemic. 

• In 2022, the table engaged Health Authority (HA) partners to increase their effectiveness in addressing broader medical staff issues. 

• The Terms of Reference were revised to include the Northern Health Authority Vice President (VP) of Medicine and the SSC Facility Engagement Working Group (FEWG) HA rep as voting members, and again in 2023 to include regional HA Medical Directors (2) as non-voting members, each serving for 6-month rotating terms.  

• As of July 2026, the NHPC is chaired by one MSA president, voting membership includes all 17 MSA Presidents, while the VP of Medicine, SSC FEWG DoBC and HA representatives, and DoBC/SSC representatives, medical directors, and ad hoc guests participate as non-voting members.  

• The table meets 10 times a year and focuses on four priority areas, listed below. Past projects: Northern Health Hospital Overcapacity Project. 

Priorities & key activities 

• Recruitment & Retention – created chat group for council members, as well as for each MSA, to improve connection and communication, environmental scan of recruitment and retention tables in each community to facilitate knowledge sharing and leveraging best practices. 

• Communication – Engage with Northern Health Communications teams to streamline communication pathways. 

• Cultural Safety & Humility – Developing a list of educational opportunities for council members to engage in learning, such as organizing a compassionate leadership session grounded in Indigenous and Western pedagogy and identifying and sharing existing services for Indigenous patients in each community. 

• Physical & Psychological Safety – Discussing how to operationalize timely post-incident debrief planning, including raising awareness of current resources, identifying who is responsible for debriefs, and continuing to build trust and respectamong table members, and creating an anti-racism resource list.  

Impact: As part of the 2025-2026 Regional Annual Review and Reporting process, participants were asked about the impact of their engagement work. The quotes below highlight the value of the table:   

“The table has created a trusted forum for timely communication, shared problem-solving, and alignment on issues of mutual interest. Rather than working in parallel or in silos, we can raise concerns early, understand differing perspectives, and co-develop practical approaches that support both system sustainability and frontline realities.” – NHPC member, Source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

“Overall, the regional engagement table has functioned as a critical enabler, connecting leadership intent with frontline realities, and has demonstrably advanced multiple dimensions of the Quintuple Aim through focused, collaborative action.” - NHPC member, Source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

For the most recent information and/or to connect with this table, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca. To learn more about FE projects happening in Northern Health, click here.  

Fraser Health Presidents Council (FHPC) 

Background & membership 

• FHPC started in 2020 as mandated structure within the HA medical staff rules and funded by FE since 2021 to enable widespread engagement. 

• As of July 2026, the council is chaired by two MSA Presidents, who share the role of MSA chair, and the Fraser Health Vice President of Medicine, reflecting a co-leadership model between physicians and the Health Authority.  

• Voting membership includes the Presidents of all 11 Fraser Health MSAs, while Health Authority representatives, MSA administrators, and Doctors of BC representatives participate as non-voting members.  

• The council meets 5 times a year and focuses on the priority areas below.  

Priorities & key activities  

• Recruitment, Retention, & Onboarding: The council supports several collaborative regional recruitment and retention priorities through a dedicated subcommittee, including targeted domestic and international recruitment advertising, exit interviews to understand candidate decision-making, standardized regional physician onboarding checklist, UBC residency program engagement and rotation expansion, increased awareness of available HA recruitment resources, and a future recruitment speed dating networking event.

• Physician Psychological Health & Safety: The council provides a forum to discuss physician wellness and identify opportunities to improve safety across Fraser Health facilities. In collaboration with Fraser Health partners, the goal is to develop a low-burden solution pathway that supports issues reporting, prompt follow up after safety and exposure events, and guidance on who to connect with for non-emergent inquiries. 

• Succession Planning & Leadership Support: By bringing MSA leaders together regularly, the council supports succession planning, leadership development, and knowledge sharing among physician leaders. 

• Regional Collaboration & Ministry Engagement: The council supports physician representation on Health Authority committees (HAMAC, EDI, QI, etc.) and identifies opportunities where regional collaboration can improve physician engagement and system performance. 

Impact: As part of the 2025-2026 Regional Annual Review and Reporting process, participants were asked about the impact of their engagement work. The quotes below highlight the value of the table:   

“As part of the regional FHPC representation, presidents are able to sit on HAMAC, EDI committee, and many others where they can contribute actively to decisions that involve the quintuple aim.” FHPC member, Source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

“Our presidents feel comfortable discussing important, controversial and sensitive topics that impact providers and patients. They are willing to enter into dialogue with the health authority, DoBC and MoH to improve the state of health care for both patients and providers.”  FHPC member, Source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

For the most recent information and/or to connect with this table, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca. To learn more about FE projects happening in Fraser Health, click here.  

Interior MSA Executive Network 

Background & membership 

• In 2026, the Interior MSA Executive Network was formalized to support collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing between Interior MSA executives and HA partners. 

• As of July 2026, the network is co-chaired by two MSA presidents, from one rural and one larger facility, and meets 4 times a year. 

• Voting membership includes an executive member from each of the 22 Interior Health MSAs, SSC FEWG DoBC and HA representatives, and VP of Medicine, while a secondary attendee from each MSA, IH Executive Medical Directors (3), SSC/Share Care Committee Leader, and Doctors of BC representatives (EPs, RAA) participate as non-voting members. 

Regional & sub-regional activities 

• Planetary Health Table: Builds an understanding of sustainable health systems, spreads successful local-level initiatives to multiple sites across region and embeds climate conscious initiatives into the health system.  

• Hospitalist Community of Practice: Creates a network of IH hospitalists to discuss operational priorities, develop solutions to shared challenges, exchange best practices, and improve regional hospitalist program and HA communications.  

• Kootenay Boundary Gender Equity Table: Supports women in medical leadership, advances equity, diversity and inclusion policies, and promotes inclusive leadership opportunities.  

• East Kootenay Patient Transportation Committee: Identifies issues impacting patient transportation in the region, builds rural site interdisciplinary teams’ capacity to reduce transportation needs and overcapacity at the regional site, and cultivates a collective voice of East Kootenay medical staff to inform policy decisions. 

• Wellness Matters: A regional forum to advance system-level wellness by exploring organizational factors impacting medical staff well-being. 

• Regional Civility Matters Tour: Training sessions to improve workplace culture and patient care through respectful communication.  

Impact: As part of the 2025-2026 Regional Annual Review and Reporting process, participants were asked about the impact of their engagement work. The quotes below highlight the value of regional engagement work: 

“Transport is a significant barrier to care when it comes to treatment of rural and regional populations. This working group has been able to develop many initiatives that have had positive impact in this realm.” – East Kootenay Patient Transport Committee, Source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

“The informal network allowed us to collaborate, share our experiences and learn from each other to enhance and start building strong hospitalist services within the Interior with Health Authority support” – Hospitalist Community of Practice, Source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

For the most recent information and/or to connect with one of these projects/tables, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca. To learn more about FE projects happening in Interior Health, click here.  

Vancouver Coastal & Providence Health Care Presidents Council (VPPC) and VCH Rural & Remote Presidents Table (RRPT) 

Background & membership 

• VCH RRPT formalized in 2021 and has been supported by FE since 2025. The table met in 2024 to identify shared priorities and challenges across sites, exchange experiences and approaches to navigating them, and explore opportunities to collectively advance actions. Voting membership includes all 5 rural VCH MSAs in VCH (Sechelt, Bella Bella, Bella Coola, Powell River, Squamish), while a secondary attendee from each MSA, physician representatives from the Health Centre’s in Whistler and Pemberton (non-MSA members), and Doctors of BC representatives (EPs, RAA) attend as non-voting members. The council has a rotating chair and meets 4 times a year. All the RRPT members are also members of the VPPC. 

• VPPC started initial discussions in 2024 which continued throughout 2025 to identify shared priorities and clarify the table’s purpose and function. As of 2025, voting membership includes all 9 VCH/PHC MSAs while a secondary attendee from each MSA, SSC FEWG HA representative, Doctors of BC representatives (EPs, RAA) attend as a non-voting members, and guests attend by invitation. The council has a rotating chair and meets 3-4 times a year.  

Priorities & key activities  

• Both structures have been developed to represent the collective voice of their MSA membership, including discussing and collaborating to solve shared regional issues and disseminating information from the tables back to respective MSA members. 

• As of July 2026, the VPPC and RRPT are organizing a collective strategic planning session to clarify their vision and identify priority engagement areas, as well as how the two tables relate to and function with one another.  

• Past projects include a VCH regional wellness survey to inform wellness priorities and guide the development of initiatives to address organizational factors contributing to physician burnout.  

Impact 

• RRPT has created a forum to focus on the unique experiences, identify shared priorities, and challenges in rural and remote facilities.  

• Although still in its early stages, VPPC has established an important regional forum for physician leaders and Health Authority partners to collaborate across Vancouver Coastal and Providence. It has also successfully agreed on terms of reference, meeting structure, and engaged closely with HA partners in the development of the table. In addition, VPPC has increased information sharing through partner updates at council meetings, started to identify priorities through a member survey, and identified the need for stronger engagement with rural MSAs and HA partners within VCH. Meetings held in 2025 and 2026 indicated that 100% of participants strongly agreed/agreed with the statement “I feel we achieved the objective of relationship building and collaboration.”  

For the most recent information and/or to connect with one of these projects/tables, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca. To learn more about FE projects happening in Vancouver Coastal, click here.  

Health Authority Medical Staff Association (HAMSA) Executive Committee (HEC) Meetings 

Background & membership  

• HEC is a mandated structure within the HA medical staff rules and funded by FE since 2022 to enable stronger engagement and collaboration. It consists of all 11 Island MSA presidents and one other executive member, as well as Island Health leadership representatives.  

• As of July 2026, HEC is chaired by three local MSA Presidents (HEC Executives), voting membership includes the three HEC executives and three Island Health designates while the remaining MSA members, Doctors of BC staff (EPs, RAA), and guests attend as non-voting members.  

• The committee meets 2 times a year and functions to represent the collective voice of medical staff members, advising the Health Authority Medical Advisory Committee (HAMAC) and Island Health of shared regional issues, fostering trust and transparency between medical staff and Island Health, and support two-way information sharing amongst members.  

• The Island Executive Network also exists and consists of two executive members from each MSA, supported by pooled local FE funds, with the goal of ensuring HEC meetings are informed by Network priorities. It’s chaired by the HEC executives and meets 6 times a year.  

Regional activities  

• Transparency and Communications Steering Committee: Brings physician leaders and Health Authority communications staff together to improve transparency, strengthen communication pathways, and enhance physician engagement across the region. 

• iHealth Regional Table: Supports physician engagement and communication related to digital health and electronic health record initiatives. 

Impact: As part of the 2025-2026 Regional Annual Review and Reporting process, participants were asked about the impact of their engagement work. The quotes below highlight the value of regional engagement work: 

“This committee is a valued addition to physician and facility engagement, with the aim of providing a mechanism to discuss and provide a structure to foster bi-directional communication between physicians and Island Health” – Transparency and Communications Steering Committee, source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

“The table allows for discussion of impact of EHR on provider experience and the need to adopt new changes to address negative provider experience. Similarly, regarding efficiency and the ability to provide timely care. Lastly, we are aware of the importance of quality data metrics to foster quality improvement on the population level.” – iHealth Regional Table, source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

For the most recent information and/or to connect with one of these projects/tables, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca. To learn more about FE projects happening in Island Health, click here.  

Regional MSA Executive Meetings and BCMHSUS President’s Table  

Background & membership  

• In 2022, the BC Mental Health and Substance Use (BCMHSU) Presidents table formed to better represent the 3 BC Mental Health programs collective priorities at the Health Authority Medical Advisory Committee (HAMAC) meetings, which includes 1 representative for all three MSAs and their programs. Membership of the table includes the MSA President and Vice President from each BCMHSUS MSA, with the Chief Medical Officer for BC Mental Health attending as a guest as relevant.  

• In 2024, discussions about a regional table with the 6 PHSA MSA presidents began with support from Facility Engagement, with MSA executives across PHSA expressing the value of connecting and knowledge-sharing across MSAs and with HA leadership.  

• As of 2026, 3 meetings have been held and regional engagement continues to evolve as physician leaders work toward establishing a representative structure that meets the varied and unique priorities of its membership (BC Cancer, BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), BC Children’s and Women’s, Forensic, Corrections, and Concurrent Disorders). 

Regional activities  

• BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services Presidents Table: Enables the one BCMHSUS rep to effectively represent the 3 BCMHSUS programs at HAMAC, supports improved communication and knowledge sharing across MHSUS programs and with HA partners, and collaborates with other Doctors of BC and Joint Collaborative Committee (JCC) initiatives to benefit the memberships collective medical staff (Physician Peer Support Program, etc.). Recent priorities also include clarifying the role of physicians in the adult mental health care field and improving patient transfers through the three BCMHSUS groups. 

• Past Projects have included support for MSA presidents to engage with HA partners in revising the medical staff rules and bylaws (2024). 

Impact: As part of the 2025-2026 Regional Annual Review and Reporting process, BCMHSUS participants were asked about the impact of their engagement work. The quotes below highlight the value of regional engagement work: 

“The regional table enabled us to advocate for physician voices in a much more effective way and to collaborate to raise our concerns. System change and ability to address broad concerns would not have been possible without the regional table and the connection across engagement associations that it provides.” -  BCMHSUS Table, source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

“Shared experiences minimizing duplication of efforts and potential for increased engagement from leadership, particularly given their limited time.” - BCMHSUS Table, source: regional pulse check 2025-26 

For the most recent information and/or to connect with one of these projects/tables, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca. To learn more about FE projects happening in PHSA, click here.