The primary goal of the RCCbc, a new initiative funded by the Joint Standing Committee (JSC), is to improve patient care and the health of rural British Columbians by supporting the coordination of rural health care education, rural practitioners and community health care service professional partnerships and networks. The most important tools are those of communication, facilitation, collaboration, networking and the sharing of best practices.
The RCCbc carries the momentum for rural health advocacy in BC by engaging in an ongoing dialogue with rural physicians and other rural health care service providers, rural communities, health authorities, rural health educational institutions and government. RCCbc has a core team of dedicated rural health professionals, advancing work in six areas of interest:
The RCCbc has six areas of interest:
1. Education & Training
• Promote “closer to home” Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for rural health professionals.
• Facilitate a deeper understanding of rural health care issues through learning in rural communities.
2. Recruitment & Retention
• Work with others to develop proposals contributing to the adequate supply of health professionals for rural BC.
• Support and develop strategies for recruitment and retention.
• Investigate and recommend solutions for communities in crisis, when requested.
3. Specific Populations
• Identify the needs of specific populations (e.g. aboriginal, mental health, emergency services, geriatric services).
• Communicate and promote best practices among rural practitioners serving these populations.
4. Communications
• Promote ongoing discussion and networking of rural health care professionals on education and practice.
• Maintain and develop lines of communication between all rural health stakeholders.
• Hold an annual rural conference that includes a rural training component.
5. Models of Health Service Delivery
• Work to help develop the best supported rural interprofessional health practitioners in Canada.
6. Rural Health Services Research, Evaluation and Quality Improvement
• Advance an understanding of the benefits of rural training and research.
• Integrate rural health service outcomes into health policy.
• Evaluate the many strategies being implemented by the RCCbc and REAP.
History:
The Rural Coordination Centre was first conceived in response to the concern in rural communities that they were being overwhelmed by requests and expectations from health education programs in BC to train students in their communities. It was clear that interprofessional cooperation and collaboration would be necessary if we continued to be dependent on rural physicians for their valuable educational contributions.
On November 18, 2005, a meeting involving health educators, the Ministry of Health, Health Authorities and rural community representatives was held in Vancouver to discuss these concerns. The group agreed to the principle of working together to achieve mutual rural goals of responding to rural human resource needs through educational strategies. A development committee, consisting of representatives of the UBC Medical Schools, the BC Academic Health Council, Rural Communities, the College of Health Disciplines and the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues (MOH/BCMA), was struck to look into the feasibility of establishing such an initiative. It was decided that there was a need for an organization that would concentrate on supporting and encouraging collaboration amongst those involved in initiatives that were interested in preparing students for a career in rural health care professions, those that encouraged rural based health education, and those involved in recruiting and retaining health professions to rural settings and retaining them in rural communities.
