Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital has been recognized by Health Quality B.C. as a winner in leadership.
Mayor Merlin Blackwell and Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital (DHMH) administrator, Heidi Schilling, recently represented Clearwater on behalf of the DHMH staff in Vancouver on April 23 at the Health Quality B.C. (HQBC) Forum.
In January, Schilling announced the Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital team was being recognized.
Schilling accepted the Health Quality B.C.’s 2024 Quality Award of Excellence in Quality: Leadership in Co-Creating Health with Communities during the conference where she and Mayor Blackwell had the opportunity to present as guest speakers during the conference.
“Heidi and I told the story of how the Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital team, with a lot of community support, went from over 60 emergency department closures in about six months to only two since Sept. 2022,” said Blackwell. “The vast majority of the credit for this goes to Heidi, her team, our doctors and all those who are partners in health care in our community.”
He said as part of the presentation they made, they discussed how important it is to build trust, focus on positivity and collaborate with community partners.
They gave examples of the importance of organizations like Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Wells Gray Community Forest Society, Simpcw First Nation, Yellowhead Community Services, Evergreen Acres Seniors Housing Society, the Seniors Society and other groups that continually contribute to the hospital and overall community health in the area.
“We also acknowledged the critical role our local pharmacy, Wells Gray Medical Clinic, individual members of the district council and so many others who have contributed during a time of crisis in our country with regards to healthcare.”
Schilling was invited to accept the award at the awards ceremony on April 23 in Vancouver and has continuously referred to the award as a “team” acknowledgement.
“Our work to collaborate on healthcare with the community of Clearwater clearly demonstrates the exemplary achievements of our team to support high quality care in our hospital,” Schilling said. “Every closure or diversion we experienced in 2022 weighed very heavily on me. I took those closures very seriously as having such a significant impact on our valley.”
Schilling said the goal was to connect with the community and asking them to be a part of the solutions, wanting them to hear what was happening within the facility at that time.
“In turn, we took the time to listen to their concerns and from there via mayor Blackwell we connected to many other community partners for input and ideas. It was a collaborative effort in co-creating solutions with new ideas as well as reassuring the residents in the area via word of mouth, social media and any way possible to ease their anxiety during such a challenging time. I’m still very cognisant of our staffing levels, trying to keep partners informed so we are prepared in the future because we have those working relationships in place.”
Blackwell continues to praise now retired Interior Health Authority former manager, Carl Meadows, during the time of the multiple closures as a “catalyst” who liaised to “make things happen” while always being ready to talk with anyone who wanted to be part of the solutions by turning ideas into action.
The mayor said Meadows worked in unison with Schilling to “change the system internally” and credited “Team Clearwater” as an example for other communities facing similar challenges.
“There are so many who contributed to turning things around and when I’m talking to other communities I often recommend they talk to Carl, Heidi or councillor Shelley Sim for how to welcome, recruit and create a quality lifestyle outside of the hospital doors here,” he said.
Schilling added it was such a “fabulous” response they received at the recent Health Quality B.C. Forum in having the mayor there alongside her.
“So many people stopped me over the next couple of days there and said they found it so inspiring that our mayor would attend and that they found it ‘uncommon’ and ‘amazing’ for a mayor to be so involved. It was just such a great response to our presentation,” said Schilling. “We are committed together to provide the best services possible in the North Thompson.”
You can read more about the HQBC award here: https://bit.ly/3UFOXPi