BC Quality Awards
Celebrating People and Projects Improving the Quality of Care in British Columbia.
BC Quality Awards Categories
The Quality Awards recognize contributions to quality and innovation in the delivery of care. They encourage and reward initiatives, projects, and people that improve the care in BC.
Excellence in Quality Categories
The five Excellence in Quality categories represent the five areas of care as defined by the BC Health Quality Matrix. All five categories follow the same criteria, but judges will look for elements that address the chosen area of care. Nominated projects may include highlighting approaches, processes, products, or programs that have demonstrated positive results. A project/team can only be nominated in one category.
The application should include measurable evidence of how the initiative improved outcomes, sustainability, economic benefits, and/or demonstrated meaningful impact on patients, families, and communities.
The Optimizing the Early Years award celebrates a project that improved care for maternal health and wellness or early development programs or services.
The Strengthening Health & Wellness award celebrates a project that improved the promotion of well-being initiatives, or projects that prevented injury, illness, or disability.
The Returning to Health & Wellness award celebrates a project that improved care for programs that address acute illness or injury.
The Living with Illness or Disability award celebrates a project that improved programs or services that provide care and support for chronic illness and/or injury.
The Coping with Transition from Life award celebrates a project that improved programs or services that plan, care, or support individuals, families or communities faced with life-limiting illness and/or bereavement.
Inspiring Individual Categories
Each year, we also recognize the contributions of individuals towards improving quality and enhancing the culture of safety and quality in the BC health system.
There are three categories that recognize inspiring individuals, including patients and caregivers as well as health care practitioners. Each of these categories features its own judging criteria.
The Doug Cochrane Leadership in Quality Award celebrates someone who made an inspirational, significant, and sustained contribution to improving the quality of health care in British Columbia. These contributions may have been made in the fields of health policy, care design, innovation or academia, and brought to patients at the point of care by cultivating skill development, implementing improvement initiatives, or providing respectful and compassionate care for those in need.
This award is named in honour of Doug Cochrane’s contribution as founding Chair of the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council, now Health Quality BC. Doug was a pioneer in improving quality and safety. He chaired the BC Patient Safety Task Force from its inception in 2003 to the creation of the Council in 2008. He also served as the Provincial Patient Safety & Quality Officer from 2008 to 2019. He also chaired the BC Patient Safety & Learning System, the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, and he was the Board Chair of Interior Health.
The Everyday Champion award celebrates someone who showed a passion and commitment for improving quality of care that was outside of their formal role to lead positive change. They saw a need for improvement and committed to action, leading by example and inspiring others.
Nominees do not have to work in leadership roles, or roles that specify participation in quality improvement activities. We believe everyone can play a role in improving the quality of care, regardless of their position or leadership responsibilities!
The Leadership in Advancing the Patient Voice award celebrates a patient, caregiver, or family member who made an outstanding contribution to patient engagement in BC’s health care system. They took the lead to inspire and support other patients, caregivers, family members and health care organizations to partner in pursuit of better care.
Transformative Leadership Categories
These awards recognize the contribution of a team that have demonstrated leadership qualities in engaging and influencing their organizations and environment by creating meaningful partnerships, fostering inspirational motivation, and providing ethical framework for positive change.
The Achievement in Sustainable Health Care award celebrates a team that has shown leadership in innovative clinical practices that promote environmental sustainability, mitigate against the impacts of climate change, and result in measurable achievement that improve the quality of care (based upon the Health Quality Matrix dimensions).
The Leadership in Co-Designing Health Quality with Communities award celebrates a team that has shown leadership in creating partnerships between those who deliver care with those who receive it in the pursuit of collectively improving health quality. The partnership involves some aspect of co-design to engage and amplify public and community voices and what matters to them in advancing health.
