Goals

• Interior Health serves a large geographic region encompassing urban, regional, rural,and remote communities. Children with acute and critical illness receive care in a varietyof settings, including community emergency departments, pediatric inpatient units,neonatal intensive care units, adult intensive care units, and tertiary pediatric centres.The physicians and healthcare professionals caring for these children often face uniquechallenges related to geography, resource availability, patient transport, workforcecapacity, and access to specialized pediatric services.
• As pediatric care continues to evolve within Interior Health, there is growing interestamong clinicians and health system leaders in understanding how pediatric critical careneeds are currently being met across the region and how services may need to adapt inthe future. While some data exist regarding pediatric intensive care utilization, transfers,and regional care patterns, there has not been a coordinated engagement processbringing together physicians, multidisciplinary healthcare providers, health systemleaders, and family partners to discuss current experiences, identify challenges, andexplore opportunities for future planning.
• As a result, there is limited shared understanding of how pediatric critical care servicesare accessed and delivered across Interior Health, what barriers exist for patients,families, and providers, and what priorities should inform future service development.This includes understanding both the needs currently visible within existing systemsand the needs that may not be reflected in administrative data alone, such aschallenges related to access, transfer processes, provider comfort, family burden, andresource limitations. This project is designed to address this gap through a physician-led engagementprocess involving pediatricians, emergency physicians, intensivists, neonatologists,pediatric clinical coordinators, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, educators,health authority leaders, and family partners from across Interior Health. By facilitatingstructured dialogue and reviewing available regional data, the project will develop ashared understanding of pediatric critical care needs and priorities and generaterecommendations to support future pediatric critical care planning, collaboration, andservice delivery throughout the Interior region.