2017 Healthier You Awards

2017

Friday, March 10, 2017 The Ramada Hotel

Healthy at Home, Healthy at Work

Cocktails at 6:00pm Dinner at 7:00pm Awards to Follow

A d v o c a t e • I n n o v a t o r • S e n i o r s I n i t ia t i v e • Y o u t h I n i t ia t i v e • E d u c a t o r • F i r s t Na t i o n s I n i t ia t i v e

P r o v i d e r • T e c h n o l o g y • M u lt i c u lt u r a l C o n t r i b u t i o n • R e s e a r c h • H e a lt h y W o r k p l a c e • M e n ta l H e a lt h

Celebrating the people and businesses that have made an outstanding contribution towards health & wellness in our community.

Health & Wellness Advocate of The Year Award

Health & Wellness Innovator of The Year Award

Health & Wellness Provider of The Year Award

Technology & Healthcare Award

Seniors Initiative of The Year Award

Youth Initiative of The Year Award

Outstanding Multicultural Contribution Award

Research Award

Health & Wellness Educator of The Year Award

First Nations Initiative of The Year Award

Healthy Workplace for Small Business Award

Mental Health in the Workplace Award

Tickets 50 $

INC. TAX

Available at the Prince George Citizen (150 Brunswick Street)

For more information, contact The Citizen at 250-562-2441 Presented By

In partnersh This project is made possible through funding from the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.

The Honourable Shirley Bond

Baljit Sethi, Executive Director Immigrant & Multicultural Services Society

MLA for Prince George Valemount Minister of Jobs, Tourism, Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour

2017

Nominees Health & Wellness

Advocate of The Year Award

Awarded to a Northern British Columbia company/ individual/organization that has had a positive impact on our region, through advocacy for health and wellness.

Award sponsored by

ADVOCATE Sarah White Sarah White is a leukemia survivor and a stem cell transplant recipient. When she discovered there was no peer-to-peer counseling group available for cancer survivors, she formed her own. The organization, the Northern Cancer Survivor Society, has received nonprofit status and has made a positive impact not only on the people receiving treatment or having survived cancer but also on their families as well. The society has also benefited oncologists and nurses attending the meetings for them to better understand the needs of their patients. Sarah gives selflessly to this group, benefited the health and wellness of many cancer patients, and is a true hero.

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2017

Nominees ADVOCATE

ADVOCATE Northern John HOward Society

Michele Johnson

The Northern John Howard Society (a non-profit) has been offering programs free of charge with limited staff in the Prince George and Northern BC region for more than two decades. These include the Men’s and Women’s Domestic Violence Prevention Workshop (STOP), Anger Management (MBSR/Affect Control Group work), Family Violence Prevention Facilitation (oneon-one and couple’s facilitation), Post-incarceration employment programs, transitional housing support, Equine Facilitated Wellness, youth advocacy and literacy outreach The NJHS assists those not only passing through the justice system but also for marginalized individuals requiring the support to live healthy and successful lives. The NJHS clientele ranges from both displaced and gainfully employed individuals to those experiencing life in the correctional system. The NJHS recently received recognition provincially and nationally for their revitalized STOP program, a voluntary program now being distributed province-wide.

ADVOCATE Terry Fedorkiw Terry Fedorkiw is an unrelenting advocate for rehabilitation services in Northern British Columbia.

Since arriving in Prince George in 1973, Terry has never missed an opportunity to raise her voice in the name of physiotherapy, advocating for access to physiotherapy services as well as education programs to train physiotherapists in the North.

Terry continually educates patients and health care providers about the importance and effectiveness of rehabilitation services to optimize patient recovery and function. She is quick to challenge physicians and specialists who might question the need for referrals.

She positions herself among politicians and powerful decision makers and seizes every chance to speak on behalf of patients needing rehabilitation services. She is renowned in Prince George for coaching physicians in town. She doesn’t waste an opportunity to advocate the profession or for being a team player.

ADVOCATE

Michele Johnson represents Whole Healthy Living, an outstanding grassroots effort. Michele spearheads her team in educating the public about healthier lifestyles.

This starts with the basics—you are what you digest.

Youth

Initiative of The Year Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization that has developed or introduced a product or service which enhances the health and wellness of youth within Northern British Columbia

Award sponsored by

Youth Initiative Christina Bianchini

Strengthening Families Program

Christina is a registered professional counselor and the founder of The Best Life Network, a community of local coaches, counselors and individuals passionate about bringing personal growth and development to our community. In 2016, through The Best Life Network, Christina provided opportunities to thirteen local entrepreneurs, speakers, and professionals to better serve our community. She made herself available to guide, to support, and to challenge. The two main events spearheaded by Christina are the monthly Connected Conversations and the second annual Ignite 2017.

Connected Conversations provides an opportunity for people from all levels of society to come together, listen to speakers, and then, unbelievably, engage in actual conversations. Christina has been successful in creating a safe space for people to practice and enjoy the art of an excellent conversation. Ignite 2017 was a Best Life Network event made possible through Christina’s vision and leadership. The event was driven by a desire to encourage members of the community to become more connected and fulfilled. A recent transplant from the lower mainland I believe our community is incredibly privileged to have Christina in our community sharing her vision and mission.

Strengthening Families Program (SFP) was made possible with just $2.5 million over five years, funding from the the Crime Prevention Action Fund. The SFP sees between twenty and thirty families each year, hosted at three elementary schools (Harwin, Van Bien, and Westwood) and at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre (with hope to expanding later to high schools). Anything that could prevent people from participating is covered including childcare, dinner, and transportation. The group is split between parents and kids, with facilitators for each working on similar themes. Everyone then comes together for family sessions and dinner with the goal of increasing parental involvement, specifically targeting children aged six to fourteen. The Public Safety Canada-supported program is evidence-based and was picked for Prince George after a years-long Communities That Care planning initiative focusing on youth crime prevention through social development.

ADVOCATE

Youth Initiative Angel Resendes

Prince George Youth Action Team

Angel Resendes, home grown in Prince George, is both a registered nurse and a registered midwife. Much of her career has focused on women’s health, particularly with prenatal and postpartum care for marginalized women experiencing lifestyle challenges including those involving mental health and addictions.

For the last part of her nursing career, Angel coordinated the Pregnancy Outreach Program, working closely with women and their families as they transition into motherhood. At the University of BC Department of Family Medicine, Angel completed a rotation in the Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda Africa.

Her passion for women’s health continues as she advocates for not only more midwives in Northern communities but for increased scope of midwife activities. Angel believes every woman should have the access to maternity care providers that can enhance a healthy pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period. Angel practices holistic health in her own family, bring that knowledge and clinical skill into the care she provides to her clients.

The Prince George Youth Action Team (YAT) is part of the Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Collaborative across BC and welcomes young people aged sixteen to twenty-five to join and help break down barriers for children and youth suffering from mental illness. They collaborate with other groups in Prince George while working towards their own goals related to breaking down the stigma associated with mental health. The YAT encourages youth to share their voices as well as their knowledge to help other young people in need.

ADVOCATE

Youth Initiative Darlene Shaw Darlene Shaw is a former ER nurse who suffered a stroke at the young age of 35. It was a difficult and protracted road to recovery. Darlene essentially was forced to learn to walk all over again. This past fall, Darlene answered a call for models for the Scene PG magazine and was included as one of its feature models. Despite the fact she still suffers from mobility issues and has difficulties standing without the support of a cane, she became a highlight for not just one but two shoots in that issue. Darlene shared her story with the Prince George Citizen and in doing so shed light on the reality that strokes can happen to anyone.

YMCA Healthy Kids Day The YMCA Healthy Kids Day is more than just a day; it’s a movement to inspire and involve kids and parents throughout Canada in a fun, easy way to develop a healthy, active lifestyle. This year, thousands of kids and families joined the YMCA of Northern BC to discover how to live a healthier, more active lifestyle. The free event provided fun and healthy activities from many community partners, showing parents how to be healthier role models and kids how to be more active.

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2017

Nominees Outstanding Multicultral Contribution

Youth Initiative Big Brothers & Big Sisters

Emergency Dental Outreach Clinic

Big Brothers Big Sisters Prince George believes that every child should have the opportunity to reach his or her full potential, both as an individual and a citizen. It offers a wide range of mentoring opportunities to meet the varied needs of volunteers, children, and families.

Each time the organization pairs a child with a mentor or introduces a group of students to a group program, they start something. By opening a child’s eyes to what could be, you can inspire a child to reach for even greater dreams than imagined before. Whether is it in the form of time or money, the most important investment an individual can make is helping our nation’s children realize - and share - their full potential.

Youth Initiative PG Summer Hoops Classic In early June, Duchess Park secondary school hosts the P.G. Summer Hoops Classic, a three-on-three basketball tournament organized by local teacher Nav Parmar.

The tournament, which features both senior and junior boys, is something high school players can look forward to in their off-seasons. The event allows said players to highlight their skills in a fun environment while also providing fundraising for the Heart and Stroke foundation. In 2016, the tournament featured an MVP award in honor of beloved teacher and Prince George sports fixture, Matt Pearce.

Led by local dentist Dr. Richard Wilczek and Carole Whitmer, the Emergency Dental Outreach Clinic is a group of volunteer dentists, dental assistants, and hygienists that work together to help remove deteriorated teeth that have been plaguing patients.

The free clinic is housed at no cost in the Native Friendship Centre and operates on a first come, first serve basis. Volunteers have helped over twenty patients in one night. For those afraid of the sterile big office environment, it offers a feeling of community.

Since it started, the clinic has helped more than 2,400 patients.

Health & Wellness

Innovator of The Year Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization who has developed or implemented a new approach that enhances the wellness of the citizens of Northern British Columbia

Award sponsored by

Outstanding

Innovator Intensive Care unit UHNBC

Multicultural Contribution

The “ICU get fit” initiative promotes a healthy lifestyle and contributes to team building within the Intensive Care Unit. In total, the ICU team exercised more than 55,000 minutes, or more than 900 hours, and lost a total of 100 kilograms between the participants in six weeks.

Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization who has made an outstanding contribution towards the health and wellness in the multicultural community.

Award sponsored by

Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society

Outstanding Multicultral Contribution

Innovator

Master Etna Stackhouse

Angel’s Aerial Fitness

Etna Stackhouse, a resident of Prince George for seven years and Canada for more than thirty, is a registered dietitian at the University Hospital of Northern BC. For three years, Etna has been volunteering at the City of Prince George in the International Linkages Advisory Committee, at the Seniors Care Center on Saturdays, at the Immigrant & Multicultural Services Society, and at the YMCA. She also has been working as a seasonal Instructor at the University of Northern British Columbia.

Etna came to Canada after finishing her studies in the USA. She later became a naturalized Canadian. Not long after, she took a stint working at a hospital in the United Arab Emirates. Upon her return to Canada, Etna volunteered with a non-profit in Victoria to assist immigrants. She currently lives in Prince George, where she is a semi-retired Dietitian.

Outstanding Multicultral Contribution

Angel provides a different and fun approach to physical fitness with her aerial fitness classes that aerial hammocks, hoops and poles to maximize exercise routines and utmost benefit to her clients. She is extremely committed to this unique style of exercise and bringing it to the north.

Innovator

Central Interior Native Health Society

Northern John Howard Society - STOP

The CINHS clinic is a Primary Health Care site providing innovative quality work to address health and social issues in our community. Primary health care refers to a method of delivering health care services that are team-based, with the patient being a valued member of that team. The clinic staff works as a team, sharing a commitment to deliver the best care possible with aboriginal culture as a foundation.

The CINHS is run by a board of directors who are themselves aboriginal. They set the foundation and values with their perspective, approving policies and setting the direction for the organization. The board members also provide links to the community at large. As is true for aboriginal governance, everyone at the clinic, including the clients and community links, are involved in planning the future.

The John Howard Society STOP program (Stop Taking it Out on your Partner) is an excellent education program focusing on curbing domestic violence. The two-month program facilitated in the evenings is for men to learn about anger management, communication, and mindfulness. The program developed in northern BC for northern BC is now being offered to other John Howard societies throughout the province via a train-the-trainer program.

Over and above this, the John Howard Society offers free counseling services throughout the week to any individual or couple that books an appointment. The results of this mental health and wellness initiative are excellent, especially for those more marginalized in the downtown Prince George area. It also offered all-day equine-facilitated wellness workshops (that means with horses) for women that experienced violence (domestic or otherwise) this past summer & fall. The John Howard Society also provides drop-in Anger Management programs on a regular basis and works with Northern Health mental health teams to offer anger management classes to NH clients.

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2017

Nominees Innovator

Educator Prince George HOspice Society The Prince George Hospice Society has a long history of offering grief support programs for families and loved ones. The challenge was providing an environment that would make men feel comfortable to talk. The team at the Prince George Hospice Society created a “Grief and Grub for Guys”, inviting men to come together around dinner to share and support one another. This eightweek program presents a “neutral” territory where the men come together, eat, and share experiences.

Innovator

Northern Health Palliative Care Consultation Team Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illness.

It prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether that be physical, psychosocial, or spiritual.

The Northern Health Palliative care consultation team (nurse consultants and physicians) have provided formal palliative care education for over 1700 health care professionals and students in 2016. Last spring, the team collaborated with Victoria Hospice to provide their “Medical Intensive Course” to over sixty interdisciplinary staff members across the north; to facilitate this, a mixed approach was used to allow rural/ remote access, utilizing a hybrid approach of video conferencing and in-person training.

Educator

The Regional CHronic Diseases Program (Northern Health)

PICNET (Provincial Infection Control Network) The Provincial Infection Control Network of British Columbia (PICNet) is a provincial program with the Provincial Health Services Authority that works to reduce healthcare-associated infections in BC health care facilities. Their key areas of focus are surveillance, evidence-based guidelines, and education. PICNet works together with partners on provincial surveillance initiatives, development and promotion of evidencebased best practices, and the creation of educational and operational tools. Their community of practice includes experts in infection prevention and control, occupational health and safety, public health, infectious diseases, patient safety and quality, microbiology laboratories, and others.

The Regional Chronic Diseases program in Northern Health is a unique and innovative solution for improving specialized health care services for all people living with chronic diseases across the North. The program, under the direction of Ciro Panessa, is responsible for developing and implementing chronic disease activities (e.g. strategies, programs, projects, etc.) with the goals of improving the health outcomes for Northern populations as well as providing patient-centred care closer to home. The program (and its diseasespecific sub-components) collaborate with various chronic disease programs and provincial, regional, and community health care programs and professionals. It is a health care program developed in the North, for the North.

Health & Wellness

Educator of The Year Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization who has provided ongoing health and wellness education to either health care providers, health care students and/or citizens of Northern British Columbia

Educator Stacey Hewlett (Positive Living North) Stacey Hewlett is an HIV educator associated with Positive Living North. The PLN provides quality support, awareness education, and prevention services to people living with, affected by, and at-risk for HIV / AIDS / HCV. As a leader in preventative health, they promote the holistic well-being of individuals and communities in Northern British Columbia. Stacey is an extremely passionate teacher, endlessly energetic when it comes to educating people. She leaves an impression on anyone who gets the opportunity to listen to her talk.

Award sponsored by

Educator Christina Bianchini Christina is a registered professional counselor and the founder of The Best Life Network, a community of local coaches, counselors and individuals passionate about bringing personal growth and development to our community. In 2016, through The Best Life Network, Christina provided opportunities to thirteen local entrepreneurs, speakers, and professionals to better serve our community. She made herself available to guide, to support, and to challenge. The two main events spearheaded by Christina are the monthly Connected Conversations and the second annual Ignite 2017.

Connected Conversations provides an opportunity for people from all levels of society to come together, listen to speakers, and then, unbelievably, engage in actual conversations. Christina has been successful in creating a safe space for people to practice and enjoy the art of an excellent conversation. Ignite 2017 was a Best Life Network event made possible through Christina’s vision and leadership. The event was driven by a desire to encourage members of the community to become more connected and fulfilled. A recent transplant from the lower mainland I believe our community is incredibly privileged to have Christina in our community sharing her vision and mission.

EDUCATOR Northern John Howard Society - STOP The John Howard Society STOP program (Stop Taking it Out on your Partner) is an excellent education program focusing on curbing domestic violence. The two-month program facilitated in the evenings is for men to learn about anger management, communication, and mindfulness. The program developed in northern BC for northern BC is now being offered to other John Howard societies throughout the province via a train-the-trainer program.

Over and above this, the John Howard Society offers free counseling services throughout the week to any individual or couple that books an appointment. The results of this mental health and wellness initiative are excellent, especially for those more marginalized in the downtown Prince George area. It also offered all-day equine-facilitated wellness workshops (that means with horses) for women that experienced violence (domestic or otherwise) this past summer & fall. The John Howard Society also provides drop-in Anger Management programs on a regular basis and works with Northern Health mental health teams to offer anger management classes to NH clients.

Seniors Initiative Of the year Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization that has developed or introduced a product or service which enhances the health and wellness of seniors within Northern British Columbia

Award sponsored by

Seniors Initiative Prince George & District Senior Citizen’s Activity Centre Society The Prince George & District Senior Citizen’s Activity Centre Society center helps hundreds of seniors keep active mentally and physically in a warm, welcoming, and fun environment with an assortment of activities to choose from. The activities include fitness, line dancing (with a line dancing instruction for those who are unsure), floor curling, carpet bowling, a walking group (with poles and pedometers), bridge, mini bingo, whist, knitting/ crafts, crib, dinners, and many other opportunities for fun. The center is an amazing place to be, one always filled with laughter. It’s wonderful to see the seniors who live in such a cold climate get out and stay active; we are proud to be the center they come to for their enjoyment.

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2017

Nominees Seniors Initiative Prince George Council of Seniors (Lola-Dawn Fennell & Team) Lola-Dawn Fennell, the general manager of the Prince George Council of Seniors, has been specially trained to offer a life-saving workshop to those seniors on medication. She offers the Medication Awareness presentation, developed by the council of senior citizens organizations of British Columbia, free to all seniors and senior facilities. It asks seniors to take responsibility of their own medications, to ask questions and become aware of what they are taking and why. Many seniors avoid questioning their doctors. Statistics show that 4,000 Canadians die every year from medication misuse, and that’s just from prescription medication.

60% or more of seniors cannot name the medication

they are taking or why they are taking it.

Lola-Dawn and her team want that to change. She asks that seniors open two-way conversations with their doctors and pharmacists, to be aware of the side effects of medication. She has also taken the lead in starting the free to seniors Blue Bottle Program in Prince George. Prince George Council of Seniors is a wonderful advocate for Seniors in Prince George.

Seniors Initiative Subspecialty Clinics at the GATU (Northern Health) Seniors in Prince George and surrounding communities have greatly benefitted from the services of the Geriatric Assessment and Treatment Unit (GATU) medical Subspecialty Outpatient Clinics since 2012. These clinics, including a Multidisciplinary Memory Clinic, Old Age Psychiatry Clinic, Neurology Clinic (specializing in Parkinson’s disease), and Geriatric Clinic are all located in the GATU. This has allowed for a central referral process, minimizes redundancy, and providing streamlined access for patients who require the benefit of more than one clinic, who require admission to the Day Hospital Program (for access to the GATU’s allied health care specialists), formal neuropsychological assessment, or the benefit of nursing input and expertise. Without these clinics in place, patients would have to travel to Vancouver for such specialized services.

Subspecialist clinicians involved in the clinics include: Dr. Candida Graham (Old Age Psychiatrist), Dr. Jacqueline Pettersen (Cognitive/Behavioural Neurologist), Dr. Eugene Okorie (Old Age Psychiatrist), Dr. Ashok Krishnamoorthy (Old Age Psychiatrist), Dr. Ken Madden (Geriatrician), Dr. Diane Vilani (Geriatrician), and Dr. Paul Sungaila (Neuropsychologist); also GATU Nurse, Terrie Zanette, Clinic Coordinator/Nursing Unit Assistant, Brandy Reid, and Manager of Elderly Services and the GATU, Louise Holland.

Seniors Initiative Veritas School (Terrace) Veritas School students are currently wrapping up a book publishing project. They spent time visiting seniors’ homes during school hours, interviewing them for a book focusing on each senior’s biography. Both the seniors and the children enjoy both the visits and interviewing process. The children will eventually present each senior with a copy of his or her biography.

The value of spending time with seniors touched home with the students, culminating with a school sponsored tea-time where the students served the seniors.

Seniors Initiative Prince George Council of Seniors Denture Program The Seniors Denture Program was established by the PGCOS and the Prince George Construction Association in response to an ever-growing number of seniors who found themselves in need of either dentures or the realignment/fixing of existing dentures but lacked the resources to acquire those services on their own. The PGCOS Seniors Denture Program offers financial support to seniors who have exhausted all possible financial means and funding requests from other sources but still require assistance in acquiring dentures.

First Nations Initiative Of the year Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization that has developed or introduced a product or service which enhances the health and wellness of First Nations within Northern British Columbia.

Award sponsored by

First Nations Initiative Maria Brouwer Maria Brouwer is the program coordinator for Harmony House (a subsidy of Phoenix Transition Society)—a safe house for pregnant women or women with newborns who are struggling with mental health and addictions issues. Maria has been working on the project for fifteen years, starting when she was a registered nurse at the Central Interior Native Health Clinic where she found her calling. Harmony House celebrated its opening on Feb. 14, 2017, and is populated by both pregnant women and women with newborns on a healing journey by reconnecting with their culture and ultimately learning new life skills that will see them smoothly transition to independent living with their children.

Harmony House provides 24-hour staffing including a registered nurse, early childhood educators, and experienced support workers. Maria’s vision is for Harmony House to be part of the reconciliation plan Canada has for First Nations and she is proud of what she’s accomplished so far. All her work has been done on a volunteer basis for this program. She is a hero to these women in need.

First Nations Initiative Central Interior Native Health Society The CINHS clinic is a Primary Health Care site providing innovative quality work to address health and social issues in our community. Primary health care refers to a method of delivering health care services that are team-based, with the patient being a valued member of that team. The clinic staff works as a team, sharing a commitment to deliver the best care possible with aboriginal culture as a foundation.

The CINHS is run by a board of directors who are themselves aboriginal. They set the foundation and values with their perspective, approving policies and setting the direction for the organization. The board members also provide links to the community at large. As is true for aboriginal governance, everyone at the clinic, including the clients and community links, are involved in planning the future.

First Nations Initiative Dr. Nadine Caron, Megan Hunt (Biobank) Dr. Nadine Caron and Megan Hunt are leading an initiative attached to innovative health researchers by launching a biobank for the north. By collecting tissue and blood samples from northern populations, their hope is that researchers can offer more personalized and targeted treatments. Bringing a biobank up north means keeping pace with the technology and treatments available to other British Columbians. Such biobanks exist in Vancouver, but with a base in Prince George, it opens access to northern populations and demographics that can differ greatly from other regions.

The project has $1.25 million in funding, divided into five equal parts from Genome British Columbia, Northern Health, the First Nations Health Authority, Provincial Health Services Authority, and the B.C. Cancer Foundation. It will join Genome B.C.’s existing project, the User Partner Program.

First Nations Initiative Jason Gillis Jason Gillis is the RCMP’s first urban Aboriginal liaison officer. A PTSD sufferer himself, Jason has built a sweat lodge on his personal property for the use of dealing with the trauma he faced on the job using natural means. Jason regularly runs sweats with other first responders to help them work through work related trauma of their own.

Health & Wellness

Provider of The Year Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization that has demonstrated exemplary service and dedication to enhancing the health and wellness of the citizens of Northern British Columbia.

Award sponsored by

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2017

Nominees Provider

Provider

Quesnel Physician Recruitment Committee The town of Quesnel has banded together in creating a Sustainable Rural/Remote Physician Recruitment Strategy in Northern Health. The community has developed a plan in coordination with several facets of local businesses and services to not only engage but retain doctors in Quesnel.

Provider

Prince George Hospice Society The Prince George Hospice Society was formed in 1987 by a group of concerned medical personnel and community citizens. 2017 is their 30th Anniversary.

Their mission is to offer specialized and compassionate staff and volunteers, provide palliative and grief support programs, and present services that meet the individual needs of our guests, their families, and the community.

The need for palliative care has been on an upward trend. In 2011, the Hospice House had 263 patients; in 2016, that number rose to 317, an increase of 20.53% in five years. The Hospice House offers a family suite for families to stay together, a home-style kitchen for patients and their families to share meals, a fitness room, children’s playroom, and a Spiritual room. The staff and volunteers dedicate themselves to ensure patients and families have a positive Hospice experience. The Hospice House assists with pain management, respite and provides a warm home-like environment for end of life care.

Provider Christina Bianchini

Angel Resendes

Christina is a registered professional counselor and the founder of The Best Life Network, a community of local coaches, counselors and individuals passionate about bringing personal growth and development to our community. In 2016, through The Best Life Network, Christina provided opportunities to thirteen local entrepreneurs, speakers, and professionals to better serve our community. She made herself available to guide, to support, and to challenge. The two main events spearheaded by Christina are the monthly Connected Conversations and the second annual Ignite 2017.

Connected Conversations provides an opportunity for people from all levels of society to come together, listen to speakers, and then, unbelievably, engage in actual conversations. Christina has been successful in creating a safe space for people to practice and enjoy the art of an excellent conversation. Ignite 2017 was a Best Life Network event made possible through Christina’s vision and leadership. The event was driven by a desire to encourage members of the community to become more connected and fulfilled. A recent transplant from the lower mainland I believe our community is incredibly privileged to have Christina in our community sharing her vision and mission.

Angel Resendes, home grown in Prince George, is both a registered nurse and a registered midwife. Much of her career has focused on women’s health, particularly with prenatal and postpartum care for marginalized women experiencing lifestyle challenges including those involving mental health and addictions.

For the last part of her nursing career, Angel coordinated the Pregnancy Outreach Program, working closely with women and their families as they transition into motherhood. At the University of BC Department of Family Medicine, Angel completed a rotation in the Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda Africa.

Her passion for women’s health continues as she advocates for not only more midwives in Northern communities but for increased scope of midwife activities. Angel believes every woman should have the access to maternity care providers that can enhance a healthy pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period. Angel practices holistic health in her own family, bring that knowledge and clinical skill into the care she provides to her clients.

Provider

Provider Surpassing our survival Society

Micah Yoder Acupuncture

Surpassing Our Survival Society in a non-profit organization that helps victims of sexual violence in our community. At present, their clients include children as young as three and adults well into their 60s.

Surpassing Our Survival Society is the only agency in Prince George that serves men, women, and children of Northern British Columbia seeking counseling support to heal and overcome sexual assault and abuse in their lives.

This little agency provides counseling (January stats) to seventy children (ages 3 and up) four parents, seventeen youth, seven men and sixty-one women.

Currently, there are fourteen children, fifty women, two men and one caregiver waiting to get the help they to need. Surpassing Our Survival Society does the hard work and opens the conversation in the community to advocate for a society free of sexual violence.

Micah is passionate about finding health and balance.

She studied Natural Resource Management in Vermont, with concentrations in Ecology and Organic Agriculture.

Throughout her life, she has spent many years growing organic vegetables, working on farms, and running a market garden. It was during this time that she learned the healing power of whole foods diet. Because Micah struggled with allergies, fatigue, and brain fog for most of her life, she was always looking for something to help herself feel better. By chance, she borrowed a book about acupressure, and she was hooked. Micah completed a rigorous 3-year training program and internship at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton with honors. In 2009, she became a Registered Acupuncturist in the province of B.C. She is delighted to share this amazing form of medicine with her patients.

Provider

Provider Liz Bennet

Lori Slater

Liz Bennet is a personal trainer and fitness leader at the Northern Sports Centre. Liz is always positive, caring, and supportive, celebrating every client’s success, however small. She can adapt workouts for any specific injury or need, yet still makes them interesting and challenging. Liz promotes a healthy body image by encouraging clients to celebrate the amazing things that their bodies can do rather than how they look. Liz shares her fitness knowledge and enthusiasm through personal anecdotes and videos, speaking at events such as Ignite 2017, and through her Fitness Friday videos as seen on CKPG. She is also involved in community sports events like the Prince George Ice Man. Liz loves to be active and her enthusiasm is contagious and powerful.

She consistently promotes loving your body and being your healthiest and happiest self. Liz makes a positive impact on every person she meets.

Lori is a fine example of a dedicated entrepreneur.

She has changed many lives through weight-loss and wellness, with extra emphasis on the latter. Lori treats her employees with the same dignity as she treats each customer. Dignity, respect, and always with grace.

Provider

Provider Rachelle Delorey Rachelle Delorey owns Perpetual Transformation, a company focused on bringing healing and wellness to a new level. Their main goal is to assist others mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Through people like Rachelle, patients can make the conscious mind aware of subconscious trauma, and from there, they can heal and clear the painful experiences resulting from beliefs, reactive behavior, thoughts, habits, and patterns. They go straight to the cause or issue of your concern.

Dr. Sandra Joy Allison As Chief Medical Health Officer for Northern Health, Dr. Allison is the lead for the public health team that works to improve the health of people in the north by preventing illness, promoting healthy choices, and helping eliminate or avoid outbreaks. She is a strong advocate for all citizens in Northern BC and is an enthusiastic educator on many health-related topics.

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2017

Nominees

Technology in Healthcare

Research Donna Flood & Shannon Freeman Donna Flood and Shannon Freeman are working together to bring to light the issues and opportunities in hospice care through a series of multiple research projects resulting in services and programs. Their findings have been published in “Bridging the ResearchPractice Gap in Hospice Care”.

Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization that has developed, introduced or improved a technology product or has improved the interface or service between technology and health care which enhances health and wellness within Northern British Columbia

Award sponsored by

Research

Technology Dr. Nadine Caron, Megan Hunt (Biobank)

Margo Greenwood - GlobalChild

Dr. Nadine Caron and Megan Hunt are leading an initiative attached to innovative health researchers by launching a biobank for the north. By collecting tissue and blood samples from northern populations, their hope is that researchers can offer more personalized and targeted treatments. Bringing a biobank up north means keeping pace with the technology and treatments available to other British Columbians. Such biobanks exist in Vancouver, but with a base in Prince George, it opens access to northern populations and demographics that can differ greatly from other regions.

The project has $1.25 million in funding, divided into five equal parts from Genome British Columbia, Northern Health, the First Nations Health Authority, Provincial Health Services Authority, and the B.C. Cancer Foundation. It will join Genome B.C.’s existing project, the User Partner Program.

UNBC professor Margo Greenwood is a co-investigator on a new project, GlobalChild—an online platform to create an accountability and reporting framework for countries in regards to children’s health. Margo will be GlobalChild’s expert when it comes to preparing indigenous appropriate indicators of health. The fiveyear project, made possible by a $1.1-million award from the Canadian Institutes of Health and Research, is being developed by the University of Victoria.

The database is closely tied to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. And while 196 countries have signed on to the 1989 convention, GlobalChild will address the gap in knowledge about whether the guidelines are truly followed. Some countries skip reports or fail to follow guidelines, and the UN committee lacks data it requires to offer recommendations for improvements. In this way, the research could lead to real intervention or developing tools, offer a measurable impact Greenwood hopes to see in her lifetime.

Technology

REsearch Dr. Travis Morgan

Dr. Candida GRAham

Dr. Travis Morgan of Prince George Family Chiropractic has introduced an integration of technology into daily chiropractic treatment including body and limb scanning to provide the most comprehensive examination possible for the betterment of his patients.

Dr. Candida Graham helped launch a project three years ago with Northern Health and the Activity Centre for Empowerment. She and other volunteer health professionals consulted mental health service users about what kinds of support they need to improve their health. People with mental illness have worse health outcomes, possessing higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. These add up to a 20% shorter life span. Dr. Graham says the program seeks to collaborate with mental health service users to improve patient health. The first phase of the program focused on physical activity. The second phase is improving nutrition and reducing tobacco use.

Research Award

Awarded to a company/individual/organization that performed research in the field of health and wellness within Northern British Columbia

Research Dr. Chow Lee Dr. Chow Lee is leading an initiative for the discovery of novel anti-cancer compounds from the wild mushrooms of British Columbia. In collaboration with Drs. Hugues Massicotte and Keith Egger—experts in fungi—and Drs. Kerry Reimer and Tina Bott, who are organic chemists, they aim to find new compounds from BC wild mushrooms that can directly inhibit the growth of cancer cells as well as compounds that can stimulate the body’s immune defense mechanism to kill cancer cells on its own.

Award sponsored by

Research Dr. Jacqueline Pettersen Dr. Jacqueline Pettersen is a Cognitive/Behavioural Neurologist and Assistant Professor with the Northern Medical Program. Jacqueline grew up in Prince George and has long been passionate about cognition, particularly memory, and how different processes can disrupt or enhance it. Since arriving back in Prince George eight years ago, and starting her position with the Northern Medical Program, Jacqueline has been studying the effects of nutrition on cognition as well as the effects of stroke and small vessel disease on the development of dementia. She conducted two multi-stage trials, examining the effects of vitamin D on cognition among healthy adults living in northern BC. The findings, outlined in two recent publications, revealed an association between lower levels of vitamin D and fading cognitive function, namely complex tasks of attention.

Dr. Pettersen has also been involved in a shared study with UBC, examining the overlap between vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This involved enrolling and testing participants in Prince George and then having them complete the further assessment in Vancouver. As outlined in the news recently, Jacqueline is an investigator with the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging and will be acting as the site principal investigator for a Canada-wide study on dementia—the largest of its kind and the first such trial to include smaller, more northern centers.

Healthy Workplace For Small Business Award

Awarded to a Northern British Columbian small business (50 or less employees) that has developed workplace programs that have contributed to the health and wellness of its employees.

Award sponsored by

MNB ENTERPRISES INC.

PAGE 8

2017

Nominees Mental Health

Healthy Workplace Heads Up

Heads up

Heads Up involves a set of health professionals led by Cherise Seaton who organized a group of men to a research roundtable for a frank discussion about mental health for men and how it affects the workplace.

The people who attended the discussion remained anonymous in hopes of stimulating high-quality discourse, able to speak freely in the room that was not open to the public. The research process protected all identities involved. The overall goal was to improve all health outcomes for men overall.

Healthy Workplace

Heads Up involves a set of health professionals led by Cherise Seaton who organized a group of men to a research roundtable for a frank discussion about mental health for men and how it affects the workplace.

The people who attended the discussion remained anonymous in hopes of stimulating high-quality discourse, able to speak freely in the room that was not open to the public. The research process protected all identities involved. The overall goal was to improve all health outcomes for men overall.

Mental Health Threads of Life

Prince GeorgE Brain Injured Group

The Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support (also known as Threads of Life) is a nationally registered Canadian charity dedicated to supporting families after a workplace fatality, life-altering injury, or occupational disease. Their network of family members and corporate partners believe traumatic workplace injuries, occupational diseases, and deaths are preventable.

Through community action such as the Steps for Life walks, and participation in the Speakers Bureau, they can affect a change in attitudes and behaviors where injuries are no longer considered to be “just the cost of doing business.� They strive for safer workplaces for Canadian families.

The Prince George Brain Injured Group launched a program this year for jail inmates after an informal study suggested many offenders suffer from at least one traumatic head injury. After dozens of sessions with local offenders and crash-courses with staff, Jane Daigle shared strategies to deal with brain trauma, learning that jail can both be an aggravator and a layer of symptoms Jane is teaching inmates to control. In the first eight months, Daigle led thirtytwo sessions with Prince George Regional Correctional Centre inmates, thirteen with corrections staff and another twelve with community organizations. In its first year, more than forty-five inmates have gone through five cycles of the Corrections Acquired Brain Injury Education, a Prince George-born approach dreamed up by executive director Alison Hagreen years before.

Healthy Workplace

Mental Health

Dave Fuller - Profit yourself Healthy

Mindright

Dave Fuller, MBA, is a Certified Professional Business Coach and the author of Profit Yourself Healthy. For entrepreneurs and small business owners, good information and support are critical to running a business with less stress, fewer worries, and better health. By delivering valuable information on good business practices, Dave provides a vital service to small business owners and their physical constitutions.

Mental Health In the workplace Award Awarded to a company/individual/organization that has developed or introduced a product or service which enhances mental health and wellness in the workplace for Northern British Columbia.

Award sponsored by

MindRight is a mental health wellness program designed to educate Cariboo Cougar players, coaches, parents, and supporters regarding their mental health as well as the health of others. They aim to provide information about available local resources and help players make connections with the services they might need. MindRight is proud to work within the community of Prince George, BC, and the surrounding areas to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Mental Health Jason Gillis Sarah White is a leukemia survivor and a stem cell transplant recipient. When she discovered there was no peer-to-peer counseling group available for cancer survivors, she formed her own. The organization, the Northern Cancer Survivor Society, has received nonprofit status and has made a positive impact not only on the people receiving treatment or having survived cancer but also on their families as well. The society has also benefited oncologists and nurses attending the meetings for them to better understand the needs of their patients. Sarah gives selflessly to this group, benefited the health and wellness of many cancer patients, and is a true hero.

Congratulations to all the NomineEs and

GOOD LUCK!