"All who are involved in rural health care delivery in BC should welcome this announcement. There will now be a skilled, knowledgeable individual at UBC providing leadership to ensure that the faculty of medicine will meet its social accountability mandate in the provision of healthcare to rural residents of BC."
That was the comment from Dr. John Soles, chief of staff at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater and past-president of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada, to an announcement by Health Minister Terry Lake that Dr. Dave Snadden has been appointed as the founding rural doctors' chair in Rural Health at University of British Columbia.
Lake also announced a $5-million endowment to establish the new chair at UBC, which is intended to enhance the delivery of rural health-care services throughout the province.
Dr. Snadden was the first leader of UBC's Northern Medical Program in Prince George.
Operational funding of an additional $350,000 per year will be provided over five years to support the development of a distributed provincial network of rural health researchers and the establishment of a Dean's Advisory Committee on Rural and Remote Health. These components will form an integrated and innovative world-leading strategy to improve health outcomes for rural citizens.
Based out of Prince George, Dr. Snadden will provide academic leadership in rural affairs, establish relevant research, and address rural physician recruitment and retention.
The chair was created following a proposal by the Rural Coordination Centre of BC.