OLDS - A physician from Olds and a registered nurse in Sundre were among numerous health-care workers in the province recently recognized by Alberta’s Rural Health Professions Action Plan (RhPAP).
Dr. Jaco Hoffman, from Olds was named the recipient of the 2024 RhPAP Rhapsody Rural Physician Award, while Audrey McKenzie, a registered nurse who works in Sundre, was among a pool of nine nominees for the Rhapsody Healthcare Heroes Award.
Hoffman is currently the Alberta Health Services Central Zone medical director.
“He also works in ER, delivers babies, and is a specialist for advanced airway management, and the management of critically ill patients,” reads part of the bio, adding he was also “instrumental in the opening of the local Primary Care Network clinic.”
McKenzie was one of the nominees for the Healthcare Heroes Award, which ultimately went to the staff at the Crowsnest Medical Clinic.
A registered nurse who not only provides bedside patient care but also works as a clinical educator and health-care volunteer in Sundre, McKenzie has touched many lives in her 45 years of experience in health care. Additionally, she was instrumental in helping to establish the eSIM lab in Sundre, one of only two such facilities in rural Alberta.
Originally introduced in 2002, the Rhapsody awards are intended to recognize the contributions of rural physicians and health-care workers, especially those who provide Alberta’s rural communities with outstanding patient care while along the way also making notable contributions to medical practice and to their communities.
RhPAP was established in 1991 by the Alberta government with a mandate to focus on supporting practising rural physicians, but has since evolved to become a broader rural community health workforce attraction and retention resource.
