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Qualitycast North

The Qualitycast North podcast showcases Northern British Columbian physicians and healthcare workers and their work in improving the quality of healthcare where they live. In an interview format, our host Dr. Shyr Chui invites guests to talk about their careers in rural medicine, and how they are improving healthcare through innovative quality improvement projects. Episodes are released every 2 weeks.

Qualitycast North is a production of the Northern Health Physician Quality Improvement initiative, and is co-produced by Dr. Shyr Chui, and PQI Coach Lee Cameron. This Initiative is a flagship program of the Specialist Services Committee which represents a collaborative partnership between our provincial government and Doctors of BC, and includes regular representation from the local health authorities.

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S5 · E24
August 21 · 22 min
S5 Ep24: Healing our health care system through Truth and Reconciliation featuring Barbara Taylor
After several high-profile incidents and the subsequent BC governments In Plain Sight report published in 2020, a new policy and educational framework aimed at eradicating Indigenous-Specific Anti-Racism (or ISAR) has emerged to tackle the deep-seated attitudes and impacts of settler colonialism. At the forefront of this work is today’s guest Barb Taylor. Barb is not only a front-line hospital bed coordinator, indigenous patient partner, and indigenous patient advocate working across many tables in BC’s healthcare system, she’s also a staunch advocate of the role of healthcare quality improvement in this work. In this interview we talk about barriers to equitable care for indigenous peoples, the difference between cultural awareness and safety and what matters to her in terms of indigenous health. We also touch on where Truth and Reconciliation should take our health care system and what her ideal future state in BC’s health care system looks like. Listen out for the Easter egg trailing a future episode on the subject of MAID in an indigenous cultural context during the closing music. Links: In Plain Sight
S5 · E23
August 7 · 24 min
S5 Ep23: Texting MYDOC for better diabetes care featuring Dr. Eiko Waida
A familiar voice returns to the podcast this week. Dr. Eiko Waida, who recently joined us as co-host for the special series on the Romanow Report, takes the guest’s seat today talking about her own quality improvement work in the pediatric diabetes clinic at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. We hear how her improvement work, although initially aimed at improving clinic staff morale, turned into a ground-breaking pilot project improving timely, patient-centered care using a texting platform. This successful project subsequently introduced a new model of care, improved the patient and provider experience, and offers further applications in the management of other chronic diseases. Links: Physician Quality Improvement (Interior Health) Evaluating the utility of texting in the ambulatory care of pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes. Eiko Waida et al. BMJ Open Quality. 2025 Mar 31;14(1) Qualitycast North
S5 · E22
July 24 · 26 min
S5 Ep22: Boxing Back to Mental Health featuring 7-time National Boxing Champion Kenny Lally
Life can be a cruel sport, often serving both joy and heartbreak in equal measure. But sometimes what matters is how we stand up again after getting knocked down. Join us for an emotional episode this week as we interview local Prince George boxing hero and club owner Kenny Lally about his successful amateur boxing career, his descent into depression and addiction and subsequent recovery. Listen to Kenny’s amazing story and how it enables him to give back by helping local children manage their own mental health challenges through life lessons from the boxing ring. Links: Inner City Boxing Prince George Baldy Hughes Therapeutic Community Prince George Sports Hall of Fame – Kenny Lally
S5 · E21
July 10 · 25 min
S5 Ep21: What Global Health Delivery systems can teach us about rural medicine in the North featuring Dr. Navpreet Sidhu
Medical schools major on training student physicians on the pathological basis of disease and the evidence-based therapies we prescribe to heal disease. But important and often overlooked contributors to health are the social determinants: poverty, nutrition, housing and related socio-economic factors. How health care is delivered on a system basis must consider these socioeconomic factors to ensure quality and effectiveness, particularly in rural communities such as those in Northern BC. That’s the interest of today’s guest, a family and emergency room physician, Dr. Navpreet Sidhu. In this fascinating episode she takes us through the importance of recognizing the socio-economic context of rural communities as a foundation for providing equitable health care and ways in which health care organizations can tailor their systems, metrics and standards to optimize patient-centered care for rural patients. Links: Harvard Global Health Delivery Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl (AMZ) SSC Spreading Quality Improvement Northern Health PQI
S5 · E17
June 19 · 24 min
S5 Ep17: The Romanow Report at 25 [Part 1]. “Why I chose Roy Romanow” featuring The Right Honorable Jean Chrétien
Qualitycast North is excited to bring you a special 4-episode series celebrating the 25-year anniversary of The Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada and the subsequent, ground-breaking, Romanow Report. About the Royal Commission and Romanow Report In 2001, the Federal government launched the landmark Romanow Commission, to examine the future of Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system. Led by Roy Romanow, the Commission combined extensive research, expert analysis, and one of the largest public consultations in Canadian healthcare history. Through engagement with healthcare professionals, governments, Indigenous organizations, and tens of thousands of Canadians, the Commission developed evidence-based recommendations aimed at strengthening the sustainability and accessibility of Medicare for future generations. We’re kicking off the series with the original instigator of the Commission and the Report, Canada’s past Prime Minister, The Right Honorable Jean Chrétien. In this interview, we discuss why he chose Roy Romanow to lead the enquiry. Don’t miss Part 2 of the series in which we interview Greg Marchildon, Roy Romanow’s then Chief of Staff, on the background to the Commission and the mammoth task of organizing, completing and delivering the Report within their tight, 18-month schedule. Listen now: “How we built it and life on the road” featuring Greg Marchildon, former Chief of Staff to Roy Romanow. Links: Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada: The Romanow Commission (Government of Canada The Romanow Report (download) The Specialist Services Committee Qualitycast North Special Series Credits: Hosts: Dr. Shyr Chui, Dr. Eiko Waida Executive Producer: Aman Hundal Producer: Lee Cameron Technical Support: Mat Walker (Expression North), Stefanie Garraway Part 3. Dr. Verna Yiu, former CEO of Alberta Health Services (Listen Now) Part 4. Dr. Gordon Hoag, Senior Physician Quality Improvement Co-Lead (Listen Now)
S5 · E18
June 19 · 27 min
S5 Ep18: The Romanow Report at 25 [Part 2]. “How we built it and life on the road” featuring Greg Marchildon, former Chief of Staff to Roy Romanow.
Qualitycast North is excited to bring you a special 4-episode series celebrating the 25-year anniversary of The Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada and the subsequent, ground-breaking, Romanow Report. About the Royal Commission and Romanow Report In 2001, the Federal government launched the landmark Romanow Commission, to examine the future of Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system. Led by Roy Romanow, the Commission combined extensive research, expert analysis, and one of the largest public consultations in Canadian healthcare history. Through engagement with healthcare professionals, governments, Indigenous organizations, and tens of thousands of Canadians, the Commission developed evidence-based recommendations aimed at strengthening the sustainability and accessibility of Medicare for future generations. In the second part of this 4-part, special series celebrating 25 years of the Romanow report, we speak to Greg Marchildon, Roy Romanow’s Chief of Staff at the time of the inquiry and author of the book “Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada”. In this episode, Greg takes us through the political context of the Commission, how Roy Romanow was recruited as Commissioner, and their whirlwind journey to gather, collate and summarize the opinions of health organizations and the Canadian public before generating the final report all within their18-month deadline. Join us for Part 3 in the series in which Dr. Verna Yiu, past CEO of Alberta Health Services, gives us a Provincial perspective on the Report and what it takes to implement successful health system improvement on a Provincial scale. Listen now: Generating high-impact health system improvement at the Provincial level featuring Dr. Verna Yiu, former CEO of Alberta Health Services. Links: Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada: The Romanow Commission (Government of Canada) The Romanow Report (download) Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada (Amazon) North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies The Specialist Services Committee Qualitycast North Greg Marchildon and Roy Romanow interview (audio only) Greg Marchildon and Roy Romanow interview (video) Special Series Credits: Hosts: Dr. Shyr Chui, Dr. Eiko Waida Executive Producer: Aman Hundal Producer: Lee Cameron Technical Support: Mat Walker (Expression North), Stefanie Garraway Part 1. The Rt. Honorable Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada (Listen now) Part 4. Dr. Gordon Hoag, Senior Physician Quality Improvement Co-Lead (Listen now)
S5 · E19
June 19 · 30 min
S5 Ep19: The Romanow Report at 25 [Part 3]. Generating high-impact health system improvement at the Provincial level featuring Dr. Verna Yiu, former CEO of Alberta Health Services.
Qualitycast North is excited to bring you a special 4-episode series celebrating the 25-year anniversary of The Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada and the subsequent, ground-breaking, Romanow Report. About the Royal Commission and Romanow Report In 2001, the Federal government launched the landmark Romanow Commission, to examine the future of Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system. Led by Roy Romanow, the Commission combined extensive research, expert analysis, and one of the largest public consultations in Canadian healthcare history. Through engagement with healthcare professionals, governments, Indigenous organizations, and tens of thousands of Canadians, the Commission developed evidence-based recommendations aimed at strengthening the sustainability and accessibility of Medicare for future generations. We’re continuing our special series with this our third interview. Giving us insights into the relevance of the Report at the Provincial level and a masterclass in delivering high-impact health care system improvement on a Provincial scale is today’s guest, Dr. Verna Yiu. Dr. Yiu, a pediatric nephrologist by training, is the current Board Chair of CIHI, the Academic Dean and Provost of The University of Alberta and the former CEO of Alberta Health Services from 2016 to 2022. In this episode, Dr. Yiu explains what she found inspiring about the Report before sharing her experience of successfully implementing large-scale improvements in healthcare delivery and how these can be applied in other jurisdictions. We also hear about the foundational importance of primary care, patient centered care and data system integration to delivering high quality and cost effective health care. Join us for the fourth and final part of this special series in which we talk to Dr. Gordon Hoag, Senior Provincial Quality Improvement Co-Lead about the spirit of the Romanow report and its ephemeral relevance for Canadian healthcare today. Listen now: The spirit of the Romanow Report lives on - improving health care in British Columbia today” featuring Dr. Gordon Hoag, Senior Physician Quality Improvement Co-Lead Links: Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada: The Romanow Commission (Government of Canada) The Romanow Report (download) Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) University of Alberta Alberta Health Services The Specialist Services Committee Qualitycast North Special Series Credits: Hosts: Dr. Shyr Chui, Dr. Eiko Waida Executive Producer: Aman Hundal Producer: Lee Cameron Technical Support: Mat Walker (Expression North), Stefanie Garraway Part 1. The Rt. Honorable Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada (Listen now) Part 2. Greg Marchildon, former Chief of Staff to Roy Romanow (Listen now)
S5 · E20
June 19 · 23 min
S5 Ep20: The Romanow Report at 25 [Part 4]. The spirit of the Romanow Report lives on - improving health care in British Columbia today” featuring Dr. Gordon Hoag, Senior Physician Quality Improvement Co-Lead
Qualitycast North is excited to bring you a special 4-episode series celebrating the 25-year anniversary of The Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada and the subsequent, ground-breaking, Romanow Report. About the Royal Commission and Romanow Report In 2001, the Federal government launched the landmark Romanow Commission, to examine the future of Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system. Led by Roy Romanow, the Commission combined extensive research, expert analysis, and one of the largest public consultations in Canadian healthcare history. Through engagement with healthcare professionals, governments, Indigenous organizations, and tens of thousands of Canadians, the Commission developed evidence-based recommendations aimed at strengthening the sustainability and accessibility of Medicare for future generations. In the fourth and final part of this special series we interview Dr. Gordon Hoag, a retired clinical pathologist, senior Physician Quality Improvement Co-Lead and one of the founders of British Columbia’s Physician Quality Improvement Program. We talk about how the now 25-year-old Romanow Report remains relevant to issues facing healthcare today, how having conversations around improving health system quality remain paramount and how physician-led improvement continues to offer hope for health care’s future in British Columbia. We hope you enjoyed this 4-part special series on the Romanow report. Please check out the links below for some useful resources and our website for more great Qualitycast North episodes. Links: Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada: The Romanow Commission (Government of Canada) The Romanow Report (download) The Specialist Services Committee Qualitycast North Special Series Credits: Hosts: Dr. Shyr Chui, Dr. Eiko Waida Executive Producer: Aman Hundal Producer: Lee Cameron Technical Support: Mat Walker (Expression North), Stefanie Garraway Part 1. The Rt. Honorable Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada (Listen now) Part 2. Greg Marchildon, former Chief of Staff to Roy Romanow (Listen now) Part 3. Dr. Verna Yiu, former CEO of Alberta Health Services (Listen now)
S5 · E16
June 5 · 18 min
S5 Ep16: Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy - Improving the Patient Experience featuring Dr Graham Bergstra
In this episode we’re returning to the rural community of Hazleton in Northwest BC. The demand for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is increasing as word spreads about its usefulness, but how should one design this service that best meets the clinical, social and cultural needs of its patients? That’s the subject of Dr. Graham Bergstra’s quality improvement project. By asking patients directly about their experience of care before, during and after their clinic visit, Dr. Bergstra explains how we can improve patient’s experience of anxiety, vulnerability and satisfaction, whilst also ensuring they receive the most appropriate follow up care in the community. We also learn how this patient engagement work has been both rewarding to the care team and provided a template for expanding the service with new ketamine therapy clinics across the region. Links: Roots to Thrive Northern Health Physician Quality Improvement Program
S5 · E15
May 22 · 30 min
S5 Ep15: How health data "stewardship" can drive sustainable healthcare in Canada featuring Anderson Chuck, the President and CEO of CIHI
When you think of Canadian health data, the organization that springs immediately to mind is the Canadian Institute for Health Information or CIHI. In this episode we interview Anderson Chuck, the President and CEO of CIHI, about how Canada is “data rich but information poor” and how using Pan-Canadian health data in the right way can drive improvements in health care quality. We also discuss how adopting the right data "mindset" can ensure sustainable Canadian healthcare in the future and improve economic resilience and prosperity for Canada as a nation. Links: CIHI(En) CIHI(Fr) Canadian Health Information Podcast
S5 · E14
May 15 · 31 min
S5 Ep14: “The best rural emergency medicine course hands down” featuring Dr. Jel Coward and Dr. Rebecca Lindley from the CARE course
Delivering high-quality, emergency medicine education to rural practitioners and their teams for over 15 years, the Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia’s CARE course has been consistently rated amongst the best. But what are the secrets to its success? This week we interview its creators Dr. Jel Coward and Dr. Rebecca Lindley, both rural family docs based in Pemberton BC, on how delivering education that meets learners where they are, understands their reality and recognizes their humanity, provides the best learning environment possible. Links: Rural Coordination Centre of BC - The CARE course RCCBC Rural Continuing Medical Education Programs The CARE course
S5 · E13
May 1 · 30 min
S5 Ep13: Herding Cats and Steering Ships - Dr. Ronald Chapman
This week we’re returning to the Executive C-Suite this time from a Physician’s perspective with our guest Dr. Ronald Chapman, the Vice President of Medicine of Northern Health. We talk about his early commitment to a medical administrative career track, what a VP of Medicine does, his 13-year longevity in the role and what it takes to steer a large healthcare organization on a course towards higher quality care. We also touch on the benefits and challenges of living and working in rural communities and, if given his time again, why he wouldn’t consider any other job in the world. Links: Northern Health home page Northern Health Physicians page
S5 · E12
April 18 · 31 min
S5 Ep12: Medicine at the Edge Revisited featuring Dr. Ray Markham (originally released Jan 24, 2025)
This week we’re taking a well-deserved week off and so in preparation for this year’s Rural Coordination Centre of BC’s Rural Health Conference to be held in Prince George on May 29-31st, we’re re-releasing one of our favorite archived episodes featuring RCCbc’s own Dr. Ray Markham. In this episode, Dr. Markham takes us through his global career journey to his current practice in Valemount, NE BC, discusses some of the joys and challenges of rural family practice and shows us how rural primary care can also be high quality primary care. This recording was originally the first of two parts of a longer interview with Ray, and you can find the second part in our series archive as Series 4 Episode 9. Link: RCCbc Rural Health Conference Medicine at the Edge (Part 1) - If you’re ever tempted to think medicine is practiced the same everywhere in British Columbia, think again. Small rural communities present specific challenges to healthcare delivery due to their size and location, no more so than in the North where we also have long, snowy winters to contend with. That’s not to say that rural care can’t be high quality care. Providing valuable insights into rural family practice is today’s guest Dr. Ray Markham. This interview was so good we split it into two separate episodes. In this first part, Ray talks about his rural, generalist practice in Valemount, how to promote good teamwork and the unsung benefits of working in rural medicine. Links: Partnership Pentagram RCCbc Continuing Medicine at the Edge (Part 2) - In the second part of our interview with Northern rural family physician Dr. Ray Markham, we discuss some of his leadership work supporting rural communities across the province through the Rural coordination centre of BC. We discuss how to build a provincial support network and how the constraints of geography and remoteness can be turned to advantage by fueling innovation to improve care “at the edge”.
S5 · E11
April 7 · 34 min
S5 Ep11: Hope Air - providing life-saving healthcare access and equity for rural communities featuring Mark Rubinstein
One of the largest drivers of health outcome inequity for patients living in rural communities is access to care. This disparity is magnified when combined with low income, reduced patient mobility and the high costs of travel to tertiary centers, usually located in larger cities. Tackling this inequity head on is Hope Air, a non-profit organization which provides a lifeline for rural patients to access tertiary, specialist care. Currently celebrating Hope Air’s 40th anniversary, today’s guest, Mark Rubinstein, the CEO or “Chief Hope Officer” of Hope Air takes us through its incredible mission and gives us an insight into just how much can be achieved through a small team when its mission, values and impact are perfectly aligned. Links: Website www.hopeair.ca
S5 · E10
March 20 · 21 min
S5 Ep10: Kudos and Lullabies – delivering high-impact, large-scale improvement featuring Dr. Kalah Blackstock
In this episode, we return to Bulkley Valley District Hospital in Smithers, Northwest BC who, by combining high-level collaboration between local physicians, front line staff and operational leaders with quality improvement methodology, have generated startling improvements in what matters to staff throughout the hospital. Today’s guest Dr. Kalah Blackstock, a local family physician and the Physician Quality Improvement Advisor for Northern Health takes us through their work building a healthier and more satisfied workforce whilst at the same time delivering a QI masterclass in multi-stakeholder collaboration and problem solving. Special shout out from Dr. Blackstock to the incredible team who made this work happen: Irindu Liyanage, Levi Giles, Ashley van der Meulen, Kate Niethammer, Darren Jakubec, Elena Raykov, Jen Comeau, Sophia Oumzil, Darcie Wadley, Cormac Hikisch, Billiejean Beaubien, and Emily Beirnes. Their collective efforts exemplify what can be achieved when people come together with shared purpose, curiosity, and care for both patients and one another. IHI Framework for Improving Joy in Work
S5 · E9
March 6 · 33 min
S5 Ep9: Creating capacity "upstream". Keeping COPD patients out of hospital and in the community featuring Donna Jouantapp, Lina Alsakran and Dr. Zoe Pullan
As overfilled hospitals everywhere are struggling to cope with a busy winter of respiratory disease and influenza, many in healthcare are calling for a more “upstream” approach to preventing Emergency Department visits and hospital admissions. But intervening upstream is more difficult than it sounds. Today’s guests have done just this. Talking us through their award-winning, quality improvement work in reducing ED visits and hospital admissions for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease are Donna Jouantapp, Lina Alsakran and Dr. Zoe Pullan from Cowichan on Vancouver Island. In this interview, we learn how a well-designed project with a dedicated, inclusive and nimble team can overcome obstacles on the path to sustainable, cost effective and patient-centered care. Links: The INSPIRED COPD Outreach Program and COPD Care and Education Nova Scotia
S5 · E8
February 20 · 26 min
S5 Ep8: “Focus on your North Star” - Building Macro-support for Physician-Led Healthcare Quality Improvement featuring Cindy Myles
Listeners will be familiar with the physician-led healthcare quality improvement work featured on this podcast, but they may not be familiar with how this work is formally supported at the Provincial level. In this episode, we interview Cindy Myles, the Vice President of the Specialist Services Committee, who gives us a primer on British Columbia’s unique, Joint Collaborative Committees and the importance of multipartite collaboration when addressing healthcare’s “wicked” problems. We hear how collaboration generates more sustainable change and how, during this challenging time for healthcare delivery, working together to improve the system can bring us hope for healthcare’s future. Links: SSC News The Exchange, a database of quality improvement projects supported by SSC and the Shared Care Committee JCC Website
S5 · E7
February 7 · 32 min
S5 Ep7: The Success Story of Pathways featuring Drs. Kathleen Ross and Tracy Monk
In our current technological age, the most successful information platforms are those that provide exactly the information the user needs quickly and accurately. This is the underlying premise behind British Columbia’s hugely successful medical information platform Pathways. In today’s episode we interview its two eminent founders Dr. Kathleen Ross and Dr. Tracy Monk, about its early origin story and how it developed into the universal healthcare provider directory and an amazing, multifunctional, timesaving and educational resource in its current form. We hear how their strong guiding principles drove development of Pathways’ form and function, how listening to users led to some of its best features and how quality improvement through innovation is not only rewarding but also fun. Pathways Links: To register go to www.pathwaysbc.ca and select "request access" at lower right Info page https://pathwaysbc.ca/info Backgrounder https://pathwaysbc.ca/ci/8684
S5 · E6
January 24 · 34 min
S5 Ep6: Building Safer Patient Care featuring Christina Krause from Health Quality BC
In this gem of an interview, we chat with Christina Krause, the CEO of Health Quality BC about a whole range of topics around patient safety from the role of Provincial quality and safety organizations and the new BC Patient Safety Strategy to what’s changed in our understanding of safer patient care. Through personal stories and experiences, Christina shares valuable insights into safer care through listening to patients’ and families, the importance of psychological safety, and why everyone should just take just a little more time to understand one another’s viewpoints. Listen and let Christina’s infectious enthusiasm bring you to a new understanding of safer patient care. Links: HQBC Patient Safety Strategy HQBC “What matters to you?”
S5 · E5
January 9 · 27 min
S5 Ep5: Reducing hospital admissions for mental health crises by bridging hospital and community care featuring Alanna Summers, Jennifer Sandberg and Jane Dolan
In this episode we feature another award-winning, quality improvement project this time based in Victoria, Vancouver Island. Our guests are Alanna Summers, Program Manager and a registered psychiatric nurse, Jennifer Sandburg, Team Lead occupational therapist, and Jane Dolan, MHSU Clinical recreational therapist, from the South Island Mental Health and Substance Use team. Starting with the gap in care they first identified, they take us through how they developed their cost effective and successful Bridging Care program for patients in mental health crisis. This program not only provides effective, patient-centered care but has also reduced hospital admissions and inpatient length of stay. We hear how local healthcare leadership had the foresight to support the original vision, powerful testimonials from some of the program’s patients, and how developing the program itself brought positive benefits to the provider team. Links: Counselling, Treatment & Recovery | Island Health News Adults experiencing mental health challenges benefit from Island Health’s Bridging Care Program | Island Health

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