by CDoFP | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Meet Dr. Kelsey Summerhill, first resident to serve on Chilliwack Division board
By Mari-Len De Guzman
When the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice opened a seat for a resident family doctor to join its board of directors, Dr. Kelsey Summerhill knew it was an opportunity she had to take.
Now in her second year as a Chilliwack Division board member, Summerhill has provided a unique perspective to the governance team and serves as a crucial voice in shaping the direction of primary care in the community.
“We are sort of caught in this in-between, where we’re not med students anymore but we’re not practicing physicians yet,” says Summerhill. “Our input as residents can be really helpful because we’re often in a unique situation where we’re seeing things from a different perspective.”
Dr. Kelsey Summerhill
An important aspect of her role on the board is educating her peers about the Division’s work and how it can impact the residents’ journey to family practice.
“Providing just a little bit of education even bridges that gap between the residents and the Division,” Summerhill adds.
That bridge-building has already translated into tangible results. With insight from Summerhill, the Division has expanded access to educational ventures and professional development initiatives that were historically reserved only for practicing family physicians and nurse practitioners.
Equally critical is her contribution to physician recruitment and retention. Bringing her early-career insights to board discussions, Summerhill helps shape strategies that make Chilliwack a more welcoming, supportive environment for visiting residents and specialty trainees.
“A big part of the Division’s role is recruitment and looking at getting people to Chilliwack to stay and work,” Summerhill notes. “I’ve been able to provide perspective on how they can make the community more appealing to residents training here now, as well as visiting residents, so we can better support them and the broader community.”
Beyond advocating for her peers, serving on the board has given Summerhill a front-row seat to the dynamics of the local and provincial health-care systems.
Navigating complex funding streams from various levels of government, for example, has provided insights on how community health decisions move from policy to practice.
“It’s been a huge learning curve,” says Summerhill. “I’ve learned a lot about where funding comes from and all the parameters that come with it. I have a much better perspective on what things can be done by the Division versus the health authority, and everyone’s role in our health-care system.”
This high-level understanding not only helps her guide current residents toward local and regional resources but also equips her to be a more effective physician-leader as she transitions from residency to full-time practice.
For Chilliwack Division, the decision to bring a resident onto the board was a strategic move to ensure the governance body reflects the makeup of the local medical community. It was also a deliberate step toward building early connections with physicians before they transition to full-time practice.
“Residents bring an invaluable, fresh perspective to the table. They see our local system with fresh eyes and represent the future of family medicine in our community,” says Daphne McRae, executive director of the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice.
“Kelsey’s insights have been essential in helping us understand how the Division can better support learners, ensuring our programs and recruitment efforts align with what new-to-practice physicians actually need.”
As the first resident to ever sit on Chilliwack Division’s board, Summerhill has set a compelling precedent that ensures the governance body truly reflects the community it serves.
by CDoFP | Aug 3, 2026 | Uncategorized
Division leadership roles offer opportunities to shape local health care
By Mari-Len De Guzman
The Chilliwack Division of Family Practice believes in empowering community physicians and nurse practitioners to help shape the future of health care in Chilliwack, Agassiz and Hope. One way the Division is delivering this mission is through leadership opportunities that allow frontline clinicians to spearhead innovative programs, improve system efficiencies, and mentor their peers.
Meet two current physician leaders who are carving their path in innovative leadership, bridging systemic gaps and driving health-system improvements.
Driving innovation in dementia care
Dr. Abimbola Dada
As the project lead physician for the Dementia Roadmap initiative, Dr. Abimbola Dada has taken the helm of a transformative, dual-track program across long-term-care facilities in the community.
Launched to reduce the hidden trauma of preventable emergency room transfers for dementia patients, Dada’s leadership has focused on empowering both frontline staff and educating patient families.
Under her guidance, the project integrated standardized clinical toolkits directly into point-of-care workflows. The program’s impact is clear: frontline staff reported a 58 per cent increase in confidence in clinical decision-making, shifting care from reactive hospital transfers to proactive, resident-centered care.
“We know that there is no cure for dementia and our focus, basically, is end-of-life comfort care,” Dada says. “In the end, the benefits (of hospital transfer) do not outweigh the risks for dementia patients.”
Dada is driving the project’s sustainability by establishing internal facility “champions” to maintain peer-to-peer mentorship and training.
Building bridges
Dr. Perry Tompkins
In acute care, Dr. Perry Tompkins has stepped into a vital leadership role as the lead physician for Chilliwack’s Community Family Physicians In-patient Care program. Aimed at bridging communication and coordination gaps between community and hospital patient care, Tompkins advocates for family doctors who balance responsibilities in both environments.
Tompkins’ leadership ensures family doctors have a seat at the table alongside hospital specialists, giving voice to family physicians who, like him, keep one foot in both worlds to ensure their patients don’t get lost in the transition.
His leadership helps preserve continuity of care, which reduces redundant hospital testing, improves systemic efficiency, and provides patients with a smoother hospital journey.
“At the end of the day, when you get good results and the patient feels like they’ve been looked after, you get a sense of satisfaction from that.”
Shaping the future of health care
Through these leadership roles, Dada and Tompkins are stepping up to help address enduring health-care challenges.
These physicians are only two examples of how Division members are actively building and shaping a more sustainable and resilient health-care system, with leadership support from the Division.
Are you a family physician or nurse practitioner in Chilliwack, Hope and Agassiz who’s interested in taking on leadership roles in our community? Contact Divya Reddy at [email protected] to learn how.
by CDoFP | Jun 2, 2026 | Uncategorized
The Chilliwack Division of Family Practice has teamed up with UBC Faculty of Medicine to bring back a premier preceptor teaching skills program for community family physicians in Chilliwack, Hope and Agassiz beginning this September.
A Day in the Life of a Preceptor, a 10-month professional development course, offers a unique opportunity for physicians to advance their teaching skills and help mentor and educate future family doctors in the community.
Designed by family physicians for family physicians, the program is explicitly structured around the realities of teaching in a community-based office.
“We really need to show medical students how fun family practice can be and it can be a fulfilling career,” noted South Delta, B.C. family physician Dr. Jennifer Rogerson, a past participant and physician lead of the preceptor program.
Rogerson said participating in the program gave her an opportunity to “give back to the next generation” of medical students.
Beyond the personal fulfillment of teaching, the course helps create strong professional ties closer to home, she added.
“That connection in my own community with other people who are interested in teaching is really valuable. I really didn’t have that, previously,” Rogerson said. “I see myself more now as a coach and a mentor for the students rather than a teacher… coaching them in exploring and learning themselves.”
About the preceptor course
The course curriculum is structured around five core topics, each one covering a different aspect of being a preceptor. To accommodate busy clinical schedules, the topics are delivered through a flexible, three-part learning cycle that includes:
- Virtual meetings: Interactive live sessions or recorded videos hosted by UBC.
- Self-paced e-learning: Engaging online modules completed via Canvas Catalog.
- Case-based learning: Interactive, small-group meetings hosted locally by the Chilliwack Division.
The course is certified by the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Division of Continuing Professional Development for up to 17.5 Mainpro+ certified credits across the five topics. Upon completion of the 10-month program, participants will also receive a formal UBC teaching certificate
Registration for the 2026-27 cohort is now open to all community family physicians, regardless of past teaching experience.
Register now to reserve your spot. Registration ends August 31st.
by CDoFP | May 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
Chilliwack doctor’s mission to bridge gaps between community and hospital care
By Mari-Len De Guzman
Dr. Perry Tompkins
For a system as massive and complex as British Columbia’s health-care network, it is typical for people working within the system to spot where the bottlenecks are, while standing on the sidelines waiting for things to change.
For Chilliwack physician Dr. Perry Tompkins, however, there is another choice: “put your skin in the game and try to work on those problems.”
Tompkins has taken on the leadership role in Chilliwack’s Community Family Physicians In-patient Care (CFPIC) program, which aims to address the daily gaps in coordination that can happen when care is split between the clinic and the hospital. He views himself as an advocate for the doctors who, like him, keep one foot in both worlds to ensure their patients don’t get lost in the transition.
This hands-on approach is a hallmark of the local medical community. At Chilliwack General Hospital (CGH) and Fraser Canyon Hospital in Hope, B.C., family physicians still care for their own admitted patients alongside hospitalists and specialists.
Led by the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice, CFPIC is designed to bridge the gaps between community and hospital patient care and help ensure every patient in Chilliwack experiences a seamless health-care journey.
“I think patients always appreciate having that continuity of care, with the doctor knowing them, knowing their background, and shepherding them through the (hospital) admission process. There’s a sense of security that patients get by having that process,” Tompkins said.
Seat at the table
Even in a well-connected hospital such as CGH, siloed systems can and still do exist as different departments may operate independently, Tompkins noted. For family doctors who balance a private practice with hospital rounds, this fragmentation can create significant hurdles.
Effectively on call from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm every weekday for their hospitalized patients, family physicians often find themselves “living in two worlds simultaneously,” managed by different sets of rules and communication channels, he explained.
The CFPIC program addresses these challenges by providing a dedicated lead who can represent these dual-role physicians. By essentially having a seat at the table with surgery, internal medicine and psychiatry, for example, Tompkins can advocate for the unique needs of family doctors, ensuring they aren’t just bystanders in the hospital setting.
“It was felt that it would be helpful to have someone who speaks for, represents and advocates for those physicians who are having one foot in the hospital and one foot in the community simultaneously, because they have unique challenges.”
Six months into his role, Tompkins is recognizing the benefits of the CFPIC program not just for physicians and patients but also in systems efficiency.
For one thing, family physicians following their patients when they are admitted to the hospital means there is already existing knowledge about patient history as soon as they enter the high-acuity environment of the hospital.
“There tends to be less duplication of work,” Tompkins explained. “If I know that this particular patient has this particular history, I may be less likely to order tests that a doctor unfamiliar with them might. So, it saves patients from being poked for blood, for example, or for imaging.”
From a systemic level, this means saving the health-care system the cost of unnecessary tests and imaging that would have been ordered if the attending hospital physician has no knowledge of the patient’s history.
On a personal level, Tompkins said caring for patients through their hospital journey until they are discharged offers a sense of professional satisfaction.
“Knowing that you’re going to have to see that person and care for them after they leave the hospital, you want to make sure certain things are done to make sure the landing is smooth. So, it kind of makes you more accountable to the patient, in a way,” he said.
“At the end of the day, when you get good results and the patient feels like they’ve been looked after, you get a sense of satisfaction from that.”
A personal investment
Tompkins’ motivation to help improve the local health-care landscape is fueled by a deep personal connection to the Chilliwack community. Originally from Lethbridge, Alberta, he worked as a community pharmacist after graduating from the University of British Columbia, before deciding to pursue medicine at the University of Calgary.
When it came time for his residency, Chilliwack was at the top of his list — not just for its reputation of having a great residency program, but also due to personal ties. His wife is originally from Chilliwack, and her family still calls the community home.
“We knew Chilliwack,” Tompkins said, noting that even among Calgary’s medical scene, Chilliwack is known for producing high-calibre physicians. “It sounded like a good residency program.”
Now, nearly five years into his practice as an attending physician, Tompkins views his leadership role as his contribution to ensuring the community his family has come to call home has a sustainable medical workforce for the future.
As Chilliwack’s population continues to grow, he believes investing in a versatile workforce of family physicians is essential.
“I don’t envision us leaving the community anytime soon, so I’m going to be involved with the hospital for quite a while,” he said. “Knowing that, and knowing the challenges we face on a recurring, enduring basis, I would say, it’s one thing to complain about things, it’s another thing to pick up a shovel and start doing something about it,” Tompkins said.
Supporting Tompkins and other Division members’ professional growth through leadership opportunities is a key pillar of Chilliwack Division’s strategic priorities, toward its vision of a thriving community of family physicians and primary care providers delivering excellent patient services.
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