Employment: Contract position to March 31 2019 with option for renewal.
Hours: Flexible 3 – 4 days / week if preferred
Location: #310 – 1212 West Broadway, Vancouver
The BC Alliance for Healthy Living is a registered not‐for‐profit society that first came together in 2003 with a vison to improve the health of British Columbians. BCAHL’s mission is “to improve the health of all British Columbians through leadership and collaboration to address the risk factors and health inequities that contribute significantly to chronic disease.”
The BC Alliance for Healthy Living is an alliance in the truest sense – the leaders of some of the province’s largest and most influential health organizations make up the representatives that govern BCAHL and determine strategic priorities and directions. The membership includes: BC Healthy Communities Society, BC Lung Association, BC Pediatric Society, BC Recreation and Parks Association, Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon Division; Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division; Diabetes Canada, Dietitians of Canada, BC Region, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, BC & Yukon; Public Health Association of BC, Union of BC Municipalities, and YMCA of Greater Vancouver.
BCAHL advances health promoting policies, programs and environments that support the
physical and mental well‐being of British Columbians. Since 2005, BCAHL has provided oversight for over $35M in health promotion programming. These initiatives have affected tens of thousands of British Columbians reaching across BC– from the far north Daylu Dena Council near Lower Post to Sooke in the southwest to Sparwood in the southeast of the province. As an advocacy group, we work with government and hold them accountable to promote wellness and prevent chronic disease.
To learn more about BCAHL please visit www.bchealthyliving.ca
The Executive Director reports to a provincial level Board of Directors and serves to provide advice and recommendations on strategic directions for the Alliance and works closely with the Board on setting strategic priorities. The ED has the delegated responsibility for all operational functions within the limits defined in policy and in accordance with an annually approved Business Plan.
The ED’s major responsibilities include governance, advocacy, administration, communications, external relations, fundraising, financial management and human resources.
The ED represents BCAHL and serves as liaison to government and other external groups and provides information as appropriate to BCAHL partners and governments on BCAHL’s activities and current
policy positions.
The ED is expected to develop strategic plans and proposals for potential future roles and projects which might be undertaken by BCAHL, as well as for future policy positions. This requires engagement of key stakeholders in collaborative annual and long‐term planning to increase the organization’s impact.
The ED ensures the financial sustainability of the organization, seeks out new funding opportunities and manages key funder relationships. Supervises two staff (Manager of Advocacy and Communications and Administration Manager) and other consultants as required.
Currently, the ED is also responsible for the oversight of the implementation of the Physical Activity Strategy for Children and Youth grant from the Ministry of Health in partnership with the Ministry and the executing agencies.
Compensation:
Salary is negotiable. Benefits include paid vacation starting at three weeks per year plus time off during the annual office closure between Christmas and New Year’s.
Application Information:
Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter outlining their relevant experience and interest in the position to BC Alliance for Healthy Living Society, 310 ‐ 1212 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6H 3V2 or email to info@bchealthyliving.ca.
Application deadline is Wednesday January 31, 2018. Only candidates selected for further consideration will be contacted. We thank all applicants for their interest.
July 4th & 5th, 2019
Thank you to everyone involved in our tenth annual summer school, “Simplifying Complexity: Public Health Approaches & Practice in Complex Systems” across western Canada. This year we expanded our summer school to reach a record 236 participants across five provinces and one territory thanks to our partners; Manitoba Public Health Association, Saskatchewan Public Health Association, Public Health Agency of Canada, the Yukon Public Health Community of Practice, and the videoconferencing technology provided by UBC’s Faculty of Medicine and UBC’s School of Population and Public Health.
Reaching a record number of sites would not have been possible without the tireless efforts from our Scientific Program Committee, site facilitators, volunteers and presenters. Without them we would not have been able to create such a popular and impactful program or facilitate the numerous sites that allowed so many people to participate in the school. Thank you all for dedicating your time and effort to make this year so successful.
If you attended the summer school and have not had a chance to complete the evaluation survey please follow the link below to complete it. As we look to expand the summer school and improve the summer school model, it is of vital importance that we receive as much feedback as possible. The survey will be open until 11:59pm PST on Monday July 15th, 2019. Thank you to everyone who has already completed the evaluation survey, we hope you enjoyed the summer school as much as we enjoyed planning it!
https://phabc.org/ss2019-evaluation-survey/
If you were unable to attend the summer school but are interested in what was discussed over the two days, we are making the presentations available on our website. To access the presentations you can follow the link below or go to the resources tab and click on presentations; the summer school presentations will be at the top of the list.
https://phabc.org/presentation/summer-school-2019-presentations/
Please note that we will never post a presentation without the express permission from the author. Therefore, not all presentations are currently available online. We will update the webpage regularly as permission is granted, please keep checking back!
At the beginning of August, we will be releasing the call for abstracts and opening early bird registration for our annual fall conference; happening this year on November 14th and 15th, 2019 at the Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Vancouver. If you would like to submit an abstract for consideration please keep an eye out for that announcement.
The conference theme will expand on the theme of complex adaptive systems developed for the summer school and content will be focused on the four subtopics: immunization & infectious disease response, wicked problems in health equity, food safety & security and overdose response/safe supplies. Please note that we encourage submissions from the full spectrum of public health and endeavour to be inclusive of quality submissions even if they do not fit under our conference theme.
Thank you all again for your tireless efforts in making BC a safe, healthy and inclusive place to call home. Please enjoy the rest of your summer and we look forward to seeing many of you this November in Vancouver!
https://phabc.org/summer-school-2019-registration/
Only one week until our 10th annual public health summer school, “Simplifying Complexity: Public Health Approaches and Practice in Complex Systems,” happening July 4th an 5th, 2019 across western Canada. If you haven’t registered yet, it is not too late! Registration is open until the morning of July 4th, and all non-member registration will receive a complimentary one-year membership to PHABC. Follow the link below to register!
https://phabc.org/summer-school-2019-registration/
If you have already registered you should have received your information package via your email; it includes all main site location information, the full agenda, suggested readings, and more! If you registered and have not received your information package, please contact Christina Harding at coordinator@phabc.org.
Still deciding if summer school is for you? We have released summaries of all of our sessions to help you decide. You can follow the link below to go to the event page and read all about what we have planned for the two days.
https://phabc.org/event/10th-annual-public-health-summer-school/
And remember, if you are not able to make the summer school, we will be exploring these topics in greater detail during our annual fall conference, happening at the Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Vancouver on November 14th and 15th, 2019. Keep an eye on the website, later this summer we will be releasing our call for abstracts and early bird registration discounts!
We hope everyone has a safe and happy Canada Day long weekend and we can’t wait to welcome you to summer school next week!
https://phabc.org/summer-school-2019-registration/
We are excited to release the draft agenda for our two-day summer school, “Simplifying Complexity: Public Health Approaches and Practice in Complex Systems”, coming up on July 4th and 5th, 2019. Main BC sites will be at the University of Victoria in Victoria, University of BC in Vancouver, University of Northern BC in Prince George, and University of BC: Okanagan campus in Kelowna.
We know many of you have been waiting patiently for the agenda release and we hope that it was worth the wait! Our two days will be jam packed full of excellent opportunities to learn about the latest issues and research in public health and population level interventions as well as network with like-minded people across western Canada and have a chance to put theory to practice with workshops tailored to each subtopic.
Speakers for the two-day school include: Dr. Perry Kendall, former provincial health officer and co-executive director at the BC Centre on Substance Use, Val Morrison, scientific advisor for the National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy, Dr. Marjorie MacDonald, professor emerita in the School of Nursing at the University of Victoria, Craig Thompson, director of Immunization at the BC Ministry of Health, Dr. Keith Ahamad, medical director of the Regional Addiction Program at Vancouver Coastal Health, Richard Han, provincial manager of Farm to School BC, Dr. Wanda Martin, assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Ian Roe, content strategist at I Boost Immunity and Kids Boost Immunity, Chris Van Veen, director of Strategic Initiatives and Public Health Planning at Vancouver Coastal Health, Samantha Gambling, Vancouver region animator at Farm to School BC, and Hawkfeather Peterson, secretary at the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs.
Registration is on now and will remain open until the morning of July 4th, 2019. To register today click here or follow the link below. Remember, all non-PHABC member registrations will receive a complimentary one year membership to the Public Health Association of BC; giving you access to discounts for our annual events, including the fall conference from November 14th to 15th, 2019 at the Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Vancouver, and will connect you with a community of public health professionals dedicated to improving the health of all British Columbians.
https://phabc.org/summer-school-2019-registration/
We would like to thank everyone involved with putting on the 2019 summer school, including our scientific co-chairs, Dr. Marjorie MacDonald and Dr. Wanda Martin, the entire scientific program committee (see below), and our summer school partners; Saskatchewan Public Health Association, Manitoba Public Health Association, Yukon Public Health Community of Practice, and the Public Health Agency of Canada for their tireless commitment and effort in expanding the summer school across western Canada for its milestone tenth year. We would also like to thank the School of Population and Public Health at the University of BC for their dedication to the summer school over the last ten years; without their support we would not be able to offer this continuing education opportunity year after year.
Dr. Marjorie MacDonald
University of Victoria
Marjorie MacDonald is a Professor Emerita in the School of Nursing, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health and Social Policy, and a Scientist in the Canadian Institute of Substance Use Research (CISUR), all at the University of Victoria. She co-directs the Research in Public Health Systems and Services Initiative (BC) (formerly CPHFRI) and is leading an initiative to develop a Public Health Systems and Services Research agenda for Canada. Marjorie held one of 15 inaugural CIHR Applied Public Health Research Chairs from 2008-2014, and was President and Past President of the Public Health Association of BC from 2011 to 2016. Research interests include public health systems renewal, health equity, public health and primary care collaboration, adolescent health promotion and drug use prevention, and public health ethics. Marjorie also is interested in the application of complexity science to research methods in public health.
Wanda Martin
University of Saskatchewan
Wanda Martin, RN, is an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research focuses on climate change and resilience, particularly in urban agriculture and health equity, from a complex adaptive system perspective. Dr. Martin is the past president of the Saskatchewan Public Health Association and a board member for the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment.
Thank you to everyone on the scientific program committee for your invaluable contributions to the development of the summer school 2019 curriculum!
Michael Spowart Regional Director, Western Region, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
Shannon Turner Executive Director, Public Health Association of BC
Dr. Theresa Healy Capacity Building Committee Co-Chair, Public Health Association of BC
Samantha Salter A/Territorial Epidemiologist, Health & Social Service, Government of Yukon
Lara Frederick North East Preventive Public Health Program Lead, Northern Health
Sarah Prowse Healthy Public Policy Specialist, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Jackie Wu A/Manager, Public Health Capacity & Knowledge Management, Western Region, PHAC
Sarah Dyer Office & Events Coordinator, Public Health Association of BC
Nicole Braun Population Health Promotion Practitioner, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency
Maureen Rowan Capacity Building Committee Co-Chair, Public Health Association of BC
Hannah Moffatt Population Health Equity Initiatives Leader, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Christina Harding Summer School Coordinator & Project Coordinator, Public Health Association of BC
Due to unforeseen circumstances we are looking for one more volunteer at our Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George sites. If you live in one of those cities and would like to attend the summer school but the cost of registration is impeding your participation please contact Christina Harding at coordinator@phabc.org to see if volunteering is right for you.
We look forward to seeing many of you this July!
https://phabc.org/summer-school-2019-registration/
Less than a month to go until our 10th annual summer school, Simplifying Complexity: Public Health Approaches & Practice in Complex Systems, happening July 4th and 5th, 2019 at multiple locations across BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Yukon. Main BC sites include the University of Victoria, University of BC, University of BC: Okanagan, and University of Northern BC. To register today click here of follow the link below:
https://phabc.org/summer-school-2019-registration/
Interested in attending but not sure if this year’s theme is right for you? We are pleased to announce we have released our think piece to get you thinking about complex adaptive systems, complexity science and population level interventions. This document is designed to get you thinking about the summer school theme and its subtopics including Immunization & Infectious Disease Response, Food Systems & Security, Overdose Response/Safe Supplies and Wicked Problems in Health Equity. It also provides you with some links for further reading in advance of the school for those who really want to dive into the subject before school starts.
You can see the full think piece below or click here to download a version for offline reading
Each of the subtopics will have their own half-day session consisting of a multi-site wide presentation, introducing the subtopic and how it relates to CAS, followed by a workshop component where participants at each site will take the concept to practice with the chance to work through real issues in public health collaboratively and finish with a feedback session where participants will engage in a knowledge exchange between the various sites.
We are in the process of finalizing presenters for each session and will be releasing their names along with the full agenda shortly. Please keep checking back on our events page for the latest summer school news. You can access it by clicking here or following the link below:
https://phabc.org/event/10th-annual-public-health-summer-school/
We are still looking for volunteers for our Kelowna and Prince George sites; if you are interested in attending the school but the cost is an impediment to signing up please consider volunteering. You can find out about the latest volunteering opportunities by contacting the summer school coordinator, Christina Harding, at coordinator@phabc.org.
We hope you are all getting as excited for summer school as we are!
Hon. Chantal Petitclerc: Honourable colleagues, I rise today to express my appreciation to our public health professionals, including those of the Canadian Public Health Association, for their leadership in the field. All over Canada, these professionals are concerned about our public health systems, which are in jeopardy.
You may remember, twenty years ago, public health in Canada was in disarray. After the SARS crisis in 2003, the Naylor report led to a commitment to strengthen public health across Canada, including the creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm for public health has faded over the years.
Public health professionals are alarmed, with serious concerns that cutbacks and restructuring of public health may further undermine the public health system effectiveness. We, too, should worry.
Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Newfoundland have undergone serious restructuring. We have seen cutbacks in Quebec. The Ontario government is cutting $200 million a year from public health.
In a recent article, Senator Eggleton reminded us that public health receives only 3 per cent to 4 per cent of health care funding. These cutbacks and restructuring efforts only add to the burden on our already underfunded public health systems.
As many senators have pointed out, the recent measles outbreaks highlight the importance of vaccination, as well as disease prevention and health promotion in general. Disease prevention and health promotion programs often have long-term economic benefits. The sign that these programs are working is that nothing is happening. But something could always go wrong, and that is the scenario that all levels of government must avoid at any cost by listening to our public health professionals.
In closing, I want to read you another quote from the Naylor report that I think still applies today:
Public health is taken for granted until disease outbreaks occur, whereupon a brief flurry of lip service leads to minimal investments and little change in public health infrastructure or priorities. This cycle must end.
Thank you very much.
Have you had a chance to check out the save the date for our upcoming public health summer school? This year’s event is happening July 4th and 5th at university campuses across BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon. Now in its 10th year, the two-day continuing education program give public health professionals the opportunity to gather together, network, and learn about the latest innovations in public health & how to take concept to practice in two days of engaging presentations, workshops and discussions. Registration is on now!
This year we are excited to partner with Saskatchewan Public Health Association, Manitoba Public Health Association, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Yukon’s Public Health Community of Practice to give participants across most of western Canada the option to join in our event. For information on registering for a BC site, click here or copy and paste this link into you preferred browser (https://phabc.org/event/10th-annual-public-health-summer-school/). For information on registering in Manitoba or Saskatchewan, check out their respective webpages below. Please contact Christina, summer school coordinator, at coordinator@phabc.org for information on registering for the Yukon site.
Saskatchewan Public Health Association https://saskpha.ca/
Manitoba Public Health Association https://www.facebook.com/mphaoutreach/
Over the two days you will be introduced to complex adaptive systems (CAS) thinking, a branch of complexity science, and will learn how to take concept to practice to create innovative solutions to current issues public health & learn about effective population level interventions. Subtopics that will be covered will include Immunizations/Infectious Disease Response, Health Equity in Practice, Food Systems & Security, and Overdose Response/Safe Supplies.
Each half-day session will consist of a multi-site wide presentation, introducing the subtopic and how it relates to CAS, followed by a workshop component where participants at each site will take the concept to practice with the chance to work through real issues in public health collaboratively and finish with a feedback session where participants will engage in a knowledge exchange between the various sites. Both days will begin with an overview of CAS and complexity science and end with a recap of what was learned.
We will be releasing our preliminary agenda and scheduled speakers soon, please check back on the event page for more details as they are released. And don’t forget to tell your friends! Our overarching theme and subtopics will be the focus of our annual fall conference, happening on November 14th and 15th, 2019. If you are interested in presenting at our fall conference, we highly suggest attending the summer school to gain a thorough understanding of our theme.
If you are in Kelowna or Prince George and would like to volunteer for the summer school, please contact Christina at coordinator@phabc.org to learn about current volunteering opportunities. Victoria and Vancouver sites have already reached their volunteer limit, thank you to everyone who reached out to us.
We hope to see many of you this summer!