Rachel Schmidt is an Engagement Leader with our Patient and Public Engagement Team. She has over 30 years of experience in the field, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Victoria, and coaching certification in Psychosynthesis from the Synthesis Centre in San Francisco.

Rachel joined Health Quality BC in November 2023, and comes to us from Shared Care, Divisions of Family Practice, and Facility Engagement where she worked as a Lead and Senior Project Manager. In this role, Rachel supported physicians, patients, and health care partners to work together to improve healthcare systems. Initiatives such as providing wraparound care for youth dealing with moderate to severe mental health and substance use issues, implementing team-based care for medically frail seniors, reducing wait times for women diagnosed with breast cancer, and introducing trauma-informed care in a hospital setting.

Prior to this work Rachel was the Community Relations Specialist with Community Living BC. She also has done international work in Liberia, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Central America to support global human rights and the environment. Her award-winning documentary film “Defensora” a film about land rights of the Mayan Quechi people, is part of the curriculum in several law schools across Canada and the US.

Rachel has resided in the West Kootenays for most of her life. She lives in the mountains on a large acreage outside of Castlegar and Nelson located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Sinixt, Syilx, Ktunaxa, and Secwépemc First Nations. In her free time, she loves to be outdoors kayaking, hiking, and skiing with her 25-year-old son, husband, and friends.