RHSRNbc Symposiums

The Rural Health Services Research Network has always been passionate about bringing people together to spur on co-creation of ideas and collaboration to bring us closer to greater community and individual wellbeing.

2025 Symposium

We invite you to join us on Saturday, June 14th for a virtual, half-day symposium!

This event is for anyone who is passionate about strengthening the resilience of their rural communities, particularly around climate change and ecosystem disruption. We invite all students, educators, community members, medical residents, and physicians to bring their voices together and collaborate on all the different ways rural communities might continue to strengthen their resilience – as rural communities always have.

Program Agenda

Heat-dome Scenario (10:00am – 11:25am)

Participants will have the opportunity to network with a wide range of individuals as they brainstorm different ways to protect a fictional rural community from an impending heat-dome, and the health and social challenges that come with it.

Panel of Lived Experiences (11:40am – 1:00pm)

For the second part of the day, the group will have the chance to hear stories from leaders who have lived experience in helping their communities respond to extreme weather events, and the lessons they learned in the process.

Panelists include:

  • Jordan Bassett – Quality Improvement Coordinator, Hay River Health & Social Services Authority
  • Mayor Spencer Coyne – Princeton, BC
  • Mayor Richard Ireland – Jasper, AB

→ Click here to read more about our panelists!

Mayor Richard Ireland (Jasper, AB)

Richard Ireland, born and raised in Jasper, pursued a law career before returning in the 1980s. He was elected to the Jasper Town Committee in 1989 and played a central role in establishing and consolidating local government. Elected as Jasper’s first mayor in 2001, he has since won multiple terms, symbolizing the town’s drive for self-determination. During the recent devastating Jasper Wildfire Complex, Mayor Ireland’s leadership provided strength to displaced residents, acknowledging the collective efforts that ensured the safe evacuation of 20,000 people and saved 70% of the town’s structures. He continues to work with provincial and federal governments to guide Jasper’s recovery and rebuilding. Ireland, known for his resilience and dedication, is married to Bonnie, with whom he has two sons and two granddaughters.

Jordan Bassett (Hay River, NWT)

Jordan Bassett is a Quality Improvement Coordinator with 17 years of experience working in various roles within the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. Born and raised in Hay River, NT, she has always considered the North her home. Throughout her career, Jordan has experience in health systems, specializing in health promotion, process standardization, project management, data quality, emergency preparedness, risk management and quality improvement.

Her work includes implementing Accreditation Standards, applying evidence-based best practices, centralizing policies, managing incidents, and collaborating with departments to enhance efficiency, mitigate risks, and eliminate waste. These efforts are all focused on delivering high-quality, safe, and reliable care.

Jordan is a Certified Health Information Management Professional (CHIM), Certified Healthcare Executive (CHE) and has continued learning by completing IT Professional Diploma, the HIROC Risk Residency Program, CHA training in Foundations of HealthCare Quality, Fundamentals Risk Management, Change Leadership, Incident Command System and LEADS Inspired Leadership. Jordan’s dedication to continuous learning and quality improvement drives her commitment to enhancing healthcare systems and patient safety.

Dale Snow (Hay River, NWT)

Dale Snow is a seasoned healthcare professional with over 25 years of nursing experience and a decade of leadership in the industry. As the Director of Health Services for the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, he oversees the planning, coordination, and delivery of patient-centered care across a broad spectrum of health programs and services.

Born and raised in Carbonear, Newfoundland, Dale discovered his passion for helping others at a young age. He began his healthcare journey as a medic in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves, where he developed a strong foundation in emergency response and teamwork. After completing his nursing degree, he answered the call to the North to broaden his clinical experience in a rural environment. The unique challenges and close-knit communities of Northern Canada captured his dedication, and he has worked there ever since.

Dale is known for his calm, decisive leadership, particularly in times of crisis. He has led numerous successful emergency preparedness events and has remained on the ground to support first responder efforts during critical incidents. His ability to lead under pressure while maintaining a systems-level perspective has earned him respect across the healthcare sector. In addition to his operational leadership, Dale sits on multiple regional and territorial committees, where he contributes strategic insight and fosters collaboration across the healthcare continuum. He is currently pursuing the Certified Health Executive (CHE) designation, further demonstrating his commitment to continuous improvement and high standards in healthcare leadership.

Dale brings a systematic, team-focused approach to every challenge, driven by a deep commitment to community health and a belief in the power of resilient, responsive healthcare systems.

Mayor Spencer Coyne (Princeton, BC)

Spencer Coyne is the Mayor of Princeton, British Columbia, and a proud member of the Upper Similkameen Indian Band. Born and raised in the Similkameen Valley, he has spent most of his life on the land—hunting, fishing, and harvesting traditional foods with his family in the Upper Similkameen watershed.

Coming from a resource-based community, Spencer is deeply committed to balancing economic development with environmental stewardship. He believes we are caretakers of the land, with a responsibility to preserve it for future generations.

Now serving his second term as mayor, Spencer also holds several regional, provincial, and national leadership roles. He sits on the boards of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS), the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA), the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), the BC Rural Centre, the Climate Caucus, and the Similkameen Valley Planning Society (SVPS). In addition, he participates in multiple health and community-based initiatives.

Spencer believes that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”—a philosophy that guides his approach to community leadership. He believes that a healthy, resilient community must lift up all its members to thrive as a whole.

Discussion on Youth Engagement and Education (1:00pm – 2:00pm)

The final portion of the event will be dedicated towards a presentation and discussion around the importance of youth education on topics related to climate change, particularly from an interdisciplinary perspective. We will be hearing from students and teachers from Claremont Secondary School, where the innovative Institute for Global Solutions program has been running since 2012.

REGISTER HERE!

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Network Coordinator (Esther Kim) at dayeon.kim@ubc.ca!

This event is made possible by funding through a REACH grant from Michael Smith Health Research BC.

Please see below for details on our past symposiums!

2024: Youth Leaders in Action: Responding to Climate Change

Visit the symposium site here to learn more and read our final report!

2022: Resilient Transformation of Rural Communities in British Columbia

About

The goal of our work is to build rural community resiliency through relationships. The 2022 symposium aims to work with a learning community in exploring and understanding the resiliency and transformation of rural communities from several perspectives, including physicians, community, and Indigenous Peoples.

Join us virtually on Zoom for two half-days to explore rural community resiliency from a plurality of perspectives, discussing ways to apply knowledge and brainstorming opportunities to generate new knowledge and extend the research.

May 25 & 26, 2022; 9 am – 12 pm PDT

Please see the Symposium Website for details, symposium objectives, agenda, registration details and background resources.

You can also register directly for FREE here.

This program meets the certification criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and has been certified by UBC CPD for up to 5.5 Mainpro+ Group Learning credits.

The symposium proceedings and recordings from the event can be accessed here!

2020: Planning Resilient Communities and Adapting Rural Health Services in British Columbia

About

Evidence from current climate science research suggests that anthropogenic activity will cause drastic changes to our environment, including global warming of over 1.5oC in the next 10-30 years, extreme weather patterns, and rising sea levels—some of these changes have already been observed in British Columbia. These environmental impacts have consequences for human health, with natural hazards disproportionately impacting rural populations. The Rural Health Services Research Network of BC (RHSRNbc), in partnership with the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc), is hosting a research symposium on ‘Planning Resilient Communities and Adapting Rural Health Services in British Columbia: Responding to climate change and ecosystem disruption’ on Nov 30th – Dec 1st, 2020. Please see the symposium event page for symposium goals, agenda, registration information and more.

Learning materials and resources

Recordings

RHSRNbc 2020 Symposium Proceedings

2018: Rural Emergency Services Symposium

About

On June 2018, key people from RHSRNbc, RCCbc, and BCEMN were in attendance. The RHSRNbc Advisory Committee and research designate consisting of a representative from each university in British Columbia and a member of their organization were invited to attend. Strategic invites (Health Authorities, MoH, BC Ambulance/ Transport / 911 Dispatch) were also made.

The goal of the symposium was to identify the key gaps in understanding and important research questions that need to be answered to support rural emergency services.

The objectives of the event included:

  1. Generating a high level overview of the existing evidence related to the capacity of smaller rural ERs and the support structures currently in place to sustain these services.
  2. Identifying important gaps in our current understanding.
  3. Generating key questions that need to be answered to better understand how rural emergency services attempt to address the needs of the population they serve.
  4. Examining the interface between the smaller rural ERs and the larger provincial system of emergency care including communication support (synchronous and asynchronous), the integration of care for high acuity patients, and strategies to sustain quality of care (CPD).
  5. Considering the data needed to answer the questions generated.

Presentations:

Rural Emergency Services symposium proceedings

2017: Symposium on Mental Health and Substance Use

About

The Rural Health Services Research Network of British Columbia (RHSRNbc) hosted a symposium on sustaining and progressing rural mental health and substance use services in British Columbia. This is the second research symposium hosted by the RHSRNbc, with the prior focused on determining evidence needs of sustaining rural health services for maternity services, small surgical services, emergency transport services and clinical telehealth. This year’s symposium was held on May 18th and 19th, 2017 in Vancouver and was hosted on the unceded, ancestral and traditional territory of the Musqueam Nation.

The two-day symposium explored the main themes of rural mental health services and substance use through the subthemes of rural emergency services, transport, telehealth and program innovations.

A small, strategically selected group of 22 participants attended the symposium, representing BC post-secondary institutions, BC Health Authorities and the Rural Coordination Centre of BC. This included researchers nominated by members of the RHSRNbc Advisory committees, and participants from Island Health Authority, Interior Health Authority, Centre for Rural Health Research, and the Patient Voices Network.

The purpose of the symposium was to bring together researchers from across British Columbia to facilitate a strategic discussion to advance and refine a rural mental health and substance use services agenda through identification of specific research areas that need to be addressed. Through this two-day symposium, the four subthemes were explored by reviewing existing evidence and then identifying gaps in what we know to propose strategic research questions to advance the rural health services research agenda. Included below are a few of the presentations that had taken place on this day.

Presentations

2015: Symposium on Maternity Care

About

The Rural Health Services Research Network of British Columbia (RHSRNbc) hosted a research symposium focused on determining evidence needs for sustaining rural health services in Vancouver, BC May 6-8, 2015. The political and strategic context for rural health service planning in British Columbia has evolved over the past several years as ‘rural’ has become a strategic priority for the Ministry of Health. This is evidenced most clearly through the provincial policy paper on Rural Health and the focus on sustaining patient-centered and community care ‘as close to home as reasonably possible.’ This larger context creates opportunities to advance rural health planning, and thus the health of rural residents, based on consolidating evidence from BC and internationally.

The symposium agenda was divided into four thematic areas with half-day sessions on maternity services, small surgical services, emergency transport services, and clinical telehealth. A small strategic invite list of 30 participants consisted of Australian colleagues from the University of Sydney’s University Centre for Rural Health, the RHSRNbc Advisory committee, nominated researchers representing post secondary institutions across British Columbia, the Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia (RCCbc), Perinatal Services of British Columbia (PSBC), the UBC Centre for Rural Health Research (CRHR),
Applied Policy Research Unit (APRU), First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), Interior Health Authority, and students from the University of British Columbia (UBC).

The purpose of the symposium was to bring together researchers from Canada and Australia to facilitate a strategic discussion to advance and refine a rural health services research agenda that would focus on key questions that need to be answered. This was done by addressing four thematic areas to review existing evidence, identify knowledge gaps and propose strategic research questions to advance the rural health services research agenda. These activities where undertaken with recognition of the need to continue to develop rural health research capacity in British Columbia.

Proceedings for the 2015 Symposium on Maternity Care