In April of 2024, the Surrey-North Delta Division of Family Practice showcased eight health system enhancement initiatives that we and our partners have been undertaking in our community. These are the stories behind the storyboards.  

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At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, in the summer of 2020, the Surrey-North Delta (SND) Division of Family Practice was facing declining MOA engagement and a rapidly decreasing MOA membership. This was leading to inconsistent messaging between medical offices and Family Physicians, misunderstandings about health authority mandates, confusion around where family practice offices could access resources for their patients, and a broader feeling of MOA disconnectedness.  

To address these significant challenges, the SND Division undertook an ambitious journey of completely redesigning the SND MOA Network. The aim of this redesign was to align the values, mission, and goals of the MOA Network with the overarching SND Division physician engagement strategy to facilitate a broader feeling of MOA connectedness to their peers, their clinic, and their community.   

The redesign successfully grew the MOA Network’s baseline membership by 127%, significantly increasing the number of MOA events and implementing multiple digital connection tools to enable MOAs to offer and receive peer support.  

April Bonise, who led the redesign in collaboration with the MOA Steering Committee, shares the story behind the storyboard. 

--> Want to learn more? See our storyboard HERE.

 

What have been the highlights of working on this initiative? 

A major highlight for me has been building connections among the MOAs in our community – connections both to each other and to the Division.   

It’s been a pleasure to witness our MOAs interact with one another and supporting one another (especially through the WhatsApp group), and to see the membership in the MOA Network grow, because I know how important that connection is.  

Why do you feel that the work being done here is important? What is the impact you’re hoping it will have for physicians? For patients? 

MOAs play an integral role in our healthcare system and our MOA Network demonstrates that we value the work they do for our patients and for their clinics.  Having well-supported and interconnected MOAs is obviously good for the wellbeing and professional satisfaction of the MOAs themselves. But the benefits extend to family practice clinics and their patients because MOAs bring that knowledge and those skills back to the clinic where they work. 

How has member participation contributed to this project’s success? 

While we don’t have direct FP participation in the MOA Network, our family physician members support the network indirectly by promoting our educational and social events to their staff. They also participate in some of our initiatives. For example, several Family Physicians submitted video clips showcasing their appreciation for their MOAs, which we used to make an MOA appreciation video for one of our MOA events.  

This continued promotion and participation by our FPs shows MOAs that joining the network is encouraged and that there is value in it. 

What’s next for this work? 

We are in the process of re-aligning the strategic direction of the MOA Network to better fit with the overall strategic direction of our Division. This includes a more formalized approach to MOA education, patient education, and alignment to our PCN.

How can members get involved? 

Family physician members can get involved by encouraging their MOAs to join the network, promoting our MOA education sessions and events to their staff and suggesting education topics and/or guest speakers for our MOAs to learn about.  

Would you like to learn more about the MOA Network? Contact Monica Khan at monica.khan@snddivision.ca.