December 2025

The monthly E-News shares provincial program information and updates about the Facility Engagement program. This information will interest Medical Staff Association (MSA) support teams, but please feel free to forward the newsletter to your MSA executives as well. 

Register Now: Peer-to-Peer Virtual Learning Sessions

Facility Engagement is excited to offer several peer-to-peer learning opportunities in 2026 for medical staff, MSA administrators, and health authority partners. 

All registration links and more information can be found here.

Quick Wins Workshop – Demonstrating Impact

• Part 1: Wednesday, January 21, 2026   |   6–7 P.M. PST

• Part 2: Thursday, January 22, 2026   |   12–1 P.M. PST

Supporting Specialist Rural Outreach Programs *registration is open to medical staff and health authority partners only.

• Tuesday, March 3, 2026 | 6-8 P.M. PST

Facility Engagement Virtual Year-End Showcase 

• Wednesday, June 10, 2026   |   6–8 P.M. PDT

Please share with your MSA executives and health authority partners, and feel free to include the registration page in communications out to the wider medical staff at your MSA. 

For a poster to print for the medical staff lounge and/or to share at upcoming events, see here. 

If you have any questions, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca.

Announcing the Launch of Our Centralized Program Management Roster Pilot

What it is: A roster of highly skilled Facility Engagement administrators interested in providing full scope, strategic program management support, potentially holding multiple contracts with MSAs and regional tables throughout the province. 

Process: A team of Facility Engagement staff will screen, interview, and add administrators to the roster. MSAs that elect to use the centralized roster will conduct interviews for vacant positions. Contracts will be held directly with the MSA (through either the Facility Engagement Services Company (FESC) or the physician society, as applicable). While most work will be virtual, some MSAs may require one in-person trip per year.

Who should apply: Administrators with proven competencies and skills in evaluation, governance, FEMS, communication, collaboration, project management and a strong understanding of the Facility Engagement Initiative.

Please review the Strategic Program Manager scope of services and submit your expression of interest through this online form. The form will be open until January 15, 2026.

The roster will begin small, focusing on rural and remote MSAs. Once we understand demand, we will review and expand it as needed. 

Questions can be sent to sbehnsen@doctorsofbc.ca.

We look forward to hearing from you!

2025-26 Annual Review Provincial Webinar Recording

On November 26, 2025, Facility Engagement staff hosted a provincial webinar for MSA administrators, covering key aspects of the Annual Review process, including reporting requirements and submission procedures, with an emphasis on capturing the impacts of engagement and local priorities. Questions from attendees were addressed, and a demonstration of how to use the online submission form was given. 

You can view the recording and access the slides on the Webinars tab of our website. We have also compiled a Q&A from the questions posed in the chat.

Please email your Engagement Partner or contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca if you haven’t received your information package and unique login credentials. A reminder that the submission intake period to complete the AR form is between March 31 and April 30, 2026.  

If you have any questions, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca.

SEAT Database Updates 

Thank you to everyone who shared their latest engagement activity updates via FEMS for the newest SEAT (Site Engagement Activity Tracker), October 15 deadline. The SEAT database has now been updated to include the latest data.

The database now includes over 3,500 activities across the province! However there are a number of valuable activities that haven’t been captured, so please remember to include activities in SEAT (by moving the SEAT toggle in FEMS from NO to YES) that build engagement and communication with medical staff colleagues and/or the hospital or health authority; contributes to physician wellness, leadership, redevelopment, training and/or technology; and/or seeks to improve patient quality. It is becoming increasingly important to demonstrate program impact to the Physician Services Committee (PSC) and the Specialist Services Committee (SSC), and SEAT is the ideal venue to do so. You don’t need to wait until submission deadlines or for your activity to be completed - you can add to SEAT any time throughout the year.

If you have any questions, please contact seatsupport@doctorsofbc.ca.

Physician Health Program Support Groups

The Physician Health Program is pleased to offer upcoming physician-only support groups starting in 2026:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Learn CBT techniques, emotional regulation skills, mindfulness, and acceptance-based approaches to support anxiety, depression, and stress.

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia: Explore your relationship with sleep and learn practical, evidence-based strategies to improve it.

• Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC): A culturally safe, non-judgmental space to explore identity, workplace challenges, resilience, and shared lived experiences.

Visit here to view session times, register and learn more. 

Please contact the Physician Health Program with any questions.

Year-End Deadlines and Updates  

As we approach the end of another calendar year, we would like to give you a few updates:

1. Doctors of BC will be closed for the holidays from December 24 to January 4. 
2. FEMS Help Desk will also be closed during this time, but starting December 22.
3. The final date to access a funding gate prior to the holidays is the end of the day on Wednesday, December 10, which will be transferred on Thursday, December 18.
4. Any gate requests received after December 10 will be processed during the first payment run of the new year, scheduled for Thursday, January 8.
5. There will be no e-News edition in January; we will return in February 2026.

If you have any questions, please contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca.

FEMS Tip of the Month

This month, we are sharing a quick tip for all MSA administrators and executives.

To achieve an optimal user experience on FEMS, please ensure that all pages and tabs have fully loaded before beginning work. That way, the system does not become bogged down with too many requests before it has the chance to complete.

Should you have any questions, reach out to femssupport@doctorsofbc.ca. 

Knowledge-Sharing Highlights

Are you interested in learning how FE has fostered the development of medical staff quality improvement expertise? FE and Island Health's collaboration on a virtual learning series to optimize medical staff QI skills might have some resources you can use, such as:

• The master slide deck and recording of the presentation.
• Resources from Island Health, such as: data request workflow and data request form.

Looking for a Recruitment and Retention story to share? Explore how collaborative, locally designed approaches to recruitment and retention have fostered resilient medical staff teams, improving patient care outcomes throughout the province, such as:

• The Nanaimo Medical Staff Engagement Society offers structured guidance for preparing and transitioning medical staff into their physician society roles. Their story includes resources like a stepping stones to succession one-pager, a step-by-step strategy, and handbooks for executives.
• Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) Physicians Society's process of accreditation to have associate physicians join the KGH Hospitalist Service, to increase workforce capacity.
• Chilliwack Medical Staff’s story of partnering with local businesses and community organizations, with support from their municipality, to attract doctors by solving barriers to recruitment, including a shortage of housing.

Are you interested in learning how FE has supported the strengthening of physician leadership? FE’s Physician Leadership Roundtable, held earlier in 2025, highlights three innovative partnerships and their practical strategies for driving meaningful change in facilities province-wide:

• Vernon Jubilee Hospital - Dr Kira McClellan described a leadership toolkit for physicians. Her presentation can be viewed here.
• University Hospital of Northern BC - Dr Denise McLeod discussed the UHNBC Co-leadership Learning Series, a unique collaboration of Northern Health, Prince George MSA, SSC (both PQI and FE), RCCBC and Prince George (CME). It can be viewed here.
• Burnaby Hospital - Dr Julia Stewart presented a Burnaby Hospital project aimed at encouraging women physicians to step into leadership positions and can be viewed here.

Should you have any questions, reach out to engagement@doctorsofbc.ca. 

PM Helpdesk Lunch and Learn Library

We’re excited that the FE provincial office and PM Helpdesk Consultant Erica Kjekstad have developed a comprehensive library document featuring all MSA Lunch and Learn sessions from 2022 through 2025. The links are on the provincial webinars tab on the FE website.

The calendar invite for December's session should now be in your inboxes! We will be covering the MSA administrator's step-by-step guide to making their MSA's Annual Report happen.

Should you have any inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact engagement@doctorsofbc.ca.

In Case You Missed It - November

In case you might have missed it, the Facility Engagement provincial office released the following information to MSAs in November 2025:

• FEMS and financial information: processes and procedures.
• FEMS mobile app update.
• Follow-up on the annual review provincial webinar.

Should you have any questions, reach out to engagement@doctorsofbc.ca.