2025 Agenda

There are many health challenges facing Indigenous communities. With fewer health resources in their communities, often poor connectivity to better health resources, and higher incidents of addictions and chronic diseases, overcoming these challenges requires a concerted and collaborative effort.

Working with communities, and leveraging relationships to improve innovative opportunities, Indigenous Services Canada is making progress now and is implementing solutions for a healthier future.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• How they have increased recruitment of nurses and other healthcare providers
• How they are collaborating with local communities to improve healthcare options and reconciliation
• How leveraging partnerships is leading to innovative approaches to health including remote diagnostics, connectivity, and even water purification

Nurses make up the majority of regulated healthcare providers, but retention remains a serious concern with many nurses who are struggling and leaving – or planning to leave – the profession. Retention challenges place a massive burden on patient care, particularly in rural and remote communities.

The Nursing Retention Toolkit offers several solutions to these challenges.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• What challenges we are seeing across rural communities; where are the differences and where are the similarities
• And while leadership matters, what specific ways can leaders improve nurse retention and wellbeing in their workforce
• How is the nursing retention toolkit being implemented across rural and remote communities

Discover how Emergency Medical Care Inc’s innovative emergency response system is transforming healthcare in Nova Scotia. Learn about their operational model, where their 24/7 Medical Communication Centre hub, outfitted with a clinical team made up an on-site physician, clinical support paramedic and registered nurse, triages calls and connects paramedics to the MCC clinical team to support their patients care. Hear how the MCC clinical team responds to nonurgent situations and keeps emergency resources ready and available for those that need it most.

Through a compelling case study, GoodSAM, explore how cutting-edge virtual tools improve care delivery, reduce unnecessary ER visits, and enhance paramedic support.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Enhanced Emergency Response: Learn how the Medical Communication Centre hub streamlines call triaging and improves patient outcomes by allocating emergency resources effectively.
• Virtual Care Innovations: Discover how secure, live video tools empower clinicians to provide virtual assessments and support, reducing strain on emergency services.
• Real-World Impact: Explore GoodSAM data showcasing improved care, reduced ER visits, and advanced support for paramedics through continuous innovation.

Discover how Indigenous accessibility diverges from general compliance principles. Join in the discussion as we delve into cultural considerations and Indigenous perspectives that foster inclusive solutions.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Gain valuable insights from agency experiences on applying accessibility standards meaningfully for Indigenous audiences
• Explore the power of engaging and creating projects that resonate with Indigenous communities
• Challenge norms, embrace inclusivity, and focus on creating positive change through this insightful presentation

St George is a remote town located in southwest Queensland, Australia with a population of 3,130. A significant proportion of the population are Aboriginal people (22.2%).

Following extensive consultation led by Goondir Health Service, the need for a centralised service centre was identified as there was no single facility or service that provided accessible holistic preventative and early intervention health and wellbeing services. This led to the conceptualisation and development of the St George Community Wellbeing Centre (SGCWC) to deliver over 30 centralised services for all life stages.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• How was the concept developed, and how was the community involved
• What partnerships are currently in place, and how are they being implemented
• How has cultural resilience and care integrated into the health service and how is it integral to the levels of care provided
• What lessons were learned and what the next steps are

After forming a partnership between Old Sun Community College (Siksika First Nation), Alberta Health Services (Wainwright, Alberta), and Portage College (Cold Lake and St. Paul, Alberta), UCalgary can now report on several projects they have launched and managed over the last year.

With a goal of addressing the ongoing recruitment and retention issues in rural and remote communities, they are able to recruit and train nurses in their own communities – an also in First Nations Communities as well.

Learn how the program operates, community success stories, and how it can be adapted to any location.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• How the funding and organizational models were structured, and how integration is being facilitated
• The interest, uptake, and benefits of building a local nursing workforce in rural communities, including interest from indigenous students
• How the program expanded to First Nations Communities, and what lessons were learned
• How others can adopt a similar program suited to their own needs

With staffing challenges being felt across all healthcare providers, the importance of culture and retaining talent is tantamount. Everyone acknowledges that we can’t hire our way out of this staffing crisis, so it’s important to learn how other organizations are working to create organizations that attract and retain staff.

Join the discussion as we explore how DRHC, a small rural hospital, has worked to enhance employee well-being and engagement, and used their initiatives as drivers of organizational success.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• What are the current challenges and how are they being addressed, including work-life balance and mental health challenges in healthcare
• What have been the key components of their culture drivers, including leadership development and new leadership programs
• How did they create leadership buy in, and why did they choose to highlight wellbeing
• What have been the key metrics and outcomes, what have been the positive trends in retention, satisfaction, and grievance metrics
• What have been the practical strategies for cultivating an outstanding work culture

Research and Innovation are not restricted to large academic urban hospitals. Brightshores Health System and the new Brightshores Research Institute are partnering to champion research and innovation that will transform rural health and wellness.

With six hospital sites and community stakeholder partners in rural communities in the Grey Bruce region, there are extensive opportunities to develop innovative solutions collaboratively to address rural healthcare challenges.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• The power of purposeful partnerships to advance rural health
• Success stories: transforming healthcare delivery in rural communities
• Areas of focus for rural health research and innovation
• Partnership opportunities

With a rapidly aging population and a growing prevalence of dementia, the demand for specialized treatment and services continues to rise. This need is especially challenging to address in rural areas, where access to specialized care is often limited. 

The Baycrest Virtual Behavioural Medicine (VBM) program addresses this service gap through its 100% virtual model of specialized dementia care, utilizing a primarily pharmacological approach to treat people with neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia (NPS). 

With Baycrest’s adoption and expansion of virtual care, it is now possible for patients with unmanaged severe neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia to rapidly access quality specialist care, allowing them to avoid unnecessary transitions.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Treatment Options: Explore the treatment options available through the Virtual Behavioral Medicine program for dementia patients with NPS in rural and remote areas. 
• Program Structure and Delivery: Discover how our innovative approach to dementia care, targeted pharmacological approach, and collaborative model enhance care for individuals with NPS of dementia while avoiding unnecessary admissions and supporting care teams, and partners in meeting the goals of care. 
• System-Wide Impact: Examine how the VBM program enhances Ontario’s healthcare system by improving access and patient outcomes, while offering a scalable model that can be adapted and implemented worldwide.

Smaller and Mid Sized Hospitals, and particularly rural and remote hospitals, are struggling to maintain services closer to their patients. We know that the status quo is not sustainable and experimenting and finding new solutions to our challenges in paramount if we are to ensure a strong healthcare system.

In this interactive session, there will be a discussion of how leaders can assess alignment with your partners, examples of partnerships that are working – and some that haven’t – and finally delving into medical governance and board’s role in shaping these partnerships.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Taking the initiative and building partnerships that align with your cultures
• Addressing the challenges of governance and leadership structures
• Building trust between partners and patients
• Working with your board and addressing their concerns
• The role of medical governance and understanding how much control to take or relinquish

In rural and northern communities, accessing timely healthcare remains a challenge. Teladoc Health Canada is transforming how patients receive care by leveraging virtual technology to support primary care, virtual urgent care, and emergency departments (EDs). Through real-world examples, we’ll explore how our virtual solutions, co-created with different health systems across Canada, help patients receive the right care at the right time—no matter where they live.

This talk will showcase how we collaborate with healthcare providers and systems to create meaningful impact using the Quintuple Aim framework, ultimately improving patient outcomes, provider experiences, and health equity

In response to an unprecedented shortage of psychiatrists in the area, the mental health and addictions leadership team needed to design a response that balanced the needs of the community with the capacity of a single psychiatrist.

Based on consultations with primary healthcare providers and local physician leadership, a series of partnerships and processes were developed to limit service disruptions for patients and service partners. These efforts evolved into a model of care that connects primary health care clinics, trained mental health therapists, nurses, and pharmacists to support the work of psychiatry.

Although the initial response was intended to address a short-term crisis, the value of the model and the efficiencies it has created have made a lasting impact and support a larger replication.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Details of how it was implemented and key features of each partnership used to support
• Description of how this ‘optimized’ support of psychiatrists can provide to the community
• Lessons learned and how this model can be emulated
• Continued growth of the model and unexpected enhancements as a result of the improvements

Small care homes are a unique and innovative model of long-term care that house up to twelve patients in their facility. What makes them unique is these facilities are placed within communities of living, either in a newly or soon to be built suburb or within existing residential areas. The inside is designed to feel and look exactly like a home. Now with the publication of a landmark report by the National Institute on Aging these homes have been examined within their Canadian context.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• What makes small care homes a unique long-term care solution and how they compare to traditional long-term care
• How these facilities are the perfect fit for rural and remote communities
• Opportunities to rethink existing long-term care facilities and adopt small care home principles