Facility Engagement is an initiative of the Specialist Services Committee, one of four joint collaborative committees that represent a partnership of the Government of BC and Doctors of BC.
 

FACILITY ENGAGEMENT UPDATE — JULY 2025

This update shares information relevant to Medical Staff Association (MSA) executives participating in Facility Engagement, MSA support teams, and health authority partners. 

Knowledge-sharing: Ideas you can use

Facility Engagement offered a variety of inspiring virtual MSA peer knowledge-sharing sessions this past year to align with shared strategic priorities outlined in MSAs’ 2023/24 Annual Review submissions. 

The peer-to-peer webinars included:

• Quick wins for rural MSAs
• Partnerships for physician leadership
• Strategic communications planning
• FE & PQI collaboration: QI Supports & Data Access (Island Health, Northern Health)
• Data-informed approaches to recruitment and retention

To check out all past FE peer-to-peer learnings, click here.

FE has also developed a new Engagement Model to support MSAs and HAs in building strong engagement within their organizations. This is a great framework to use alongside the Engagement Resource Guide to understand the term "engagement" and explore best practices, tools, and templates related to engagement. 

Annual Review: Provincial analysis of activities 

We have analyzed your Annual Review submissions for 2024/25 and are excited to share the insights we gathered from 71 reports. Your voices were heard, and we have compiled key themes and findings that emerged from the submissions. We have listed the top three learnings in each category below. To see the full report, click here. 

Section 1: MSA & HA Engagement Successes, Challenges, and Lessons Learned

Successes: What works well for engagement?

1. Collaboration among medical staff and health authority partners on shared priorities and physician-led initiatives highlights the significance of a team approach, open dialogue, and improved outcomes.
2. Informal engagement fosters important connections and creates a friendly atmosphere that enhances team building and helps retain physicians.
3. Health authority attendance at MSA meetings and establishing communication channels enhances coordination and clarity on site issues.

Lessons Learned: What can be improved for next time? 

1. Create more effective MSA meeting structures and offer flexible engagement opportunities to improve participation.
2. Enhance communication and alignment by establishing clear communication for transparency, ensuring follow-ups, and streamlining updates to maintain momentum and accountability.

3. Implement a stronger project accountability framework to improve tracking, scope, and expectations. 

Challenges

1. Medical staff face limited capacity to engage.
2. Ongoing staffing shortages remain a significant challenge.

3. Frequent health authority leadership changes and role vacancies create challenges for relationships and collaboration. 

Section 2: Highlights and Results

MSAs are asked to summarize impactful activities, opportunities, strategies, or successes they wished to highlight. Two hundred forty-one activities from across the province were themed according to seven priorities associated with Facility Engagement (FE) outcomes and those common throughout reports.

Section 3: MSAs' top priorities by theme for 2025/2026

1. Improve communication and connection for medical staff engagement through effective meeting structures and strong communication to boost physician engagement.
2. Enhance the medical staff experience by establishing a robust and cohesive community through team-building opportunities, physician wellness, professional development, recognition, socials, and welcoming spaces.
3. Develop and support physician recruitment and retention activities via committees and projects designed to welcome new recruits and support an engaging work environment.
4. Strengthen a unified physician voice by ensuring meaningful input and consultation, and leveraging venues to bring issues forward to influence decision-making on matters important to the medical staff.
5. Support activities that positively impact patient care and patient/provider experience through system improvement, access to quality services, health equity, and optimal resources.
6. Build strong, trusting relationships within the facility by collaborating with health authority leaders and partners.

Thank you to all MSAs who submitted their 2024/25 Annual Review report. These insights inform our Facility Engagement work plan and knowledge-sharing strategy and ensures that the Specialist Services Committee's Facility Engagement Working Group (FEWG) representatives are aware of your priorities. 

Regional Annual Review and Reflection: Key learnings from 2024/2025 regional engagement activities 

In 2024/25, FE-funded regional engagement activities addressed diverse regional priorities including patient transport, gender equity, professional courtesy, planetary health, expansion of cardiology services and electronic health records, among others. 

The following themes around key learnings for regional engagement were identified:  

1. Focus on specific regional priorities and actions to move forward.
2. Maintain momentum by staying connected between meetings, sharing resources and updates, and keeping sites engaged.
3. Value in having a common voice and sharing learnings together.
4. Work collaboratively with relevant partners to address regional priorities (e.g., engaging and collaborating with medical staff at local MSAs, involving health authority leadership early in the planning).
5. Improve data collection and access (e.g., collecting data on specific issues and across multiple facilities, and accessing health authority data).
6. Improve communication between those involved (e.g., communicating scope and limitations, improving communication channels and creating action tracker to capture key issues).
7. Secure FE regional and local funding, or an alternative funding source, if available, early on to ensure sustainability of activities.
8. Consider timing, locations and more opportunities for peer-to-peer connection when organizing events.

Upcoming engagement and knowledge-sharing opportunities 

Joint Collaborative Committees (JCCs) Showcase - Oct 6 & 7, 2025, at 9am-5pm PST is designed to share the successes and challenges faced in JCCs programs and quality improvement initiatives. Learn more and register>

Physician Wellness Network (PWN) Fall Gathering - Oct 7, 2025, at 5-7:30pm PST brings together non-profit organizational leaders who lead physician wellness initiatives across British Columbia. Learn more and register>

Peri-operative Clinical Action Network Summit (PCAN) - Nov 2 at 6-8pm & Nov 3, 2025, at 8am-5pm PST invites all peri-operative specialists, family physicians, administrators, patients, and quality improvement enthusiasts to attend the 3rd Annual PCAN Summit. Learn more and register>>

Key FE operational updates 

FE distributes a monthly newsletter to all MSA administrators (project managers, coordinators, administrative assistants, etc.). Below are the top items MSA executives should be aware of this quarter.

1. Update to FE Funding Guidelines: On June 11th, all MSA Executives were notified of a recent funding guideline approved by the Specialist Services Committee Facility Engagement Working Group (SSC FEWG), which provides clarity and an annual spending limit to MSAs for ongoing physician lounge costs. See here for a copy of those communications.

2. FEMS Post Claim Survey: As of July 2nd, 2025, we will be reinstating the physician post-claim survey in FEMS. This survey asks three questions about FE’s key outcomes and provides critical information for FE’s program evaluation while addressing the increasing need for impact measures. 

• Physicians must complete the survey when prompted to submit their claim successfully.
• MSAs will be able to request their survey reports for their own evaluation purposes. 

For questions and/or to subscribe to the FE PM E-News, contact: engagement@doctorsofbc.ca.

Facility Engagement Knowledge Sharing Portal

Curious what other facilities are doing? Check out topics such as patient quality, health authority partnerships, recruitment and more on the FE knowledge sharing portal.  Search> 

CONNECT & SHARE!  Would you like to share your engagement successes with other MSAs? Submit a brief description of the project here and the Facility Engagement provincial team will contact you to discuss details.