Developing and implementing a large-scale summit to improve health services delivery for rural, remote and Indigenous...

Inequities persist in health services delivery for rural, remote and Indigenous populations internationally. These populations require attention to improve health outcomes for individuals, communities, providers and the health system. Strong collaboration and trusting relationships in rural and Indigenous communities in British Columbia (BC), Canada enabled rapid health services delivery changes in rural BC in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, the Rural Coordination Centre of BC and First Nations Health Authority co-hosted the BC Rural and First Nations Health and Wellness Summit to collaborate with community and organizational partners to identify needs and co-create actions required to address priorities in rural health services delivery. The aim of this article is to provide information on the innovative practices of the 2020 Summit as a knowledge-to-action approach for health services delivery redesign and to share these learnings with other organizations planning large events featuring dialogue among participants distributed throughout a large area. Key learnings from the Summit include: (1) the importance of building on pre-existing and current relationships to facilitate Summit discussions in a virtual environment; (2) detailed planning and technological expertise are needed to implement large events; and (3) a carefully co-created agenda are necessary to generate buy-in and participation from partner organizations.