The FNHA Office of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) draws on the richness of First Nations knowledge and teachings as well as mainstream population and public health approaches to support community health and wellness.
In this section
Watchmon Role
In many BC First Nations cultures, the traditional role of the Watchmon is to watch over, protect and guide their people by standing guard, observing and warning of impending danger or challenges. As an important figure, the Watchmon is depicted in carvings and atop poles in many communities.
The FNHA’s CMO holds an important role as a Watchmon. The CMO monitors and acts as a guardian and champion of the health and wellness of First Nations people, province wide. As Watchmon, the CMO’s key roles are to:
- see and hear, by observing, monitoring and gathering information and data from various sources to capture the story of health and wellness of First Nations
- report, by sharing the story of the health and wellness of First Nations people in BC to improve health and wellness
- guide (or guard), by providing “two-eyed seeing” leadership to contribute to a strategic response at various levels
“Two-eyed seeing” is inspired by the teaching of Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall. It refers to learning to see Indigenous ways of knowing from one eye and Western ways of knowing from the other eye and using the strengths, gifts and insights from both to gain a well-rounded perspective.
- Watchmon Role (fact sheet)
Background
Between 2006 and 2014, First Nations in BC established a clear mandate for health data governance and information management through a series of health plans and agreements, consensus papers and the 7 Directives. This mandate directed the FNHA to create a First Nations leadership position responsible for monitoring and reporting on the health of First Nations people in BC and tracking progress against health and wellness indicators.
In 2014, the FNHA appointed the first-ever (and so far, only) Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in Canada to advance First Nations’ self-determination and self-governance. The CMO was given authority by the BC First Nations governance structure to implement health and wellness actions in partnership with provincial and federal medical health officers.
Before the FNHA was established, BC’s Provincial Health Officer (PHO) was solely responsibility for reporting on the health of Indigenous peoples living in BC. Following the establishment of the FNHA’s Office of the CMO, the FNHA and the Province of BC assumed shared responsibility for First Nations population health reporting. Since then, the two offices have formed a unique partnership built on mutual respect and collaboration that reflects reconciliation in action. Together they produce reports that provide evidence-informed analyses to support, inform and catalyze action throughout the health system and other sectors and to monitor and support the wellness of the First Nations population.
Physician team
The Office of the CMO includes six Medical Officers. These officers are physicians who provide clinical and public health leadership in their areas of specialization.
The physicians and surgeons practising within the Office of the Chief Medical Officer are licensed and regulated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC. To learn more about the practice standards expected of College registrants by their regulatory body or to view physician or surgeon’s credentials, please contact the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC.
FNHA physician team
Dr. Nel Wieman, Chief Medical Officer,
is the CMO at the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) in British Columbia, where she has worked since 2018. She is Anishinaabe from Miishipaawitiik First Nation, Treaty 5 Territory, Anishinaabe Nation. Dr. Nel Wieman lives, works and plays on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
Dr. Wieman completed her medical degree and psychiatry specialty training at McMaster University. Canada’s first female Indigenous psychiatrist, Dr. Wieman has more than 20 years’ clinical experience, working with Indigenous people in both rural/reserve and urban settings. Her previous activities include co-directing an Indigenous health research program in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and the National Network for Indigenous Mental Health Research, being Deputy Chair of Health Canada’s Research Ethics Board, and serving on CIHR’s Governing Council. She has also worked and taught in many academic settings, has chaired national advisory groups within First Nations Inuit Health Branch – Health Canada, and has served as a Director on many boards, including the Indspire Foundation and Pacific Blue Cross. Dr. Wieman served as the President of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (IPAC) from 2016-2022. She was one of the 6 Indigenous physician founders of the National Consortium on Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME). She was appointed to the BC Provincial Task Team charged with beginning implementation of the recommendations arising from the “In Plain Sight” report. Dr. Wieman was also presented with the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2024.
Specializations: Mental Health and Wellness / Addictions, Trauma-Informed Practice, Cannabis, Communications and Wellness Initiatives.
Dr. Evan Adams, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Public Health
(part-time), is a member of, and grew up in the territories of, the Tla’amin First Nation in qathet, British Columbia (BC). He completed his medical degree at the University of Calgary, an Indigenous Family Practice residency at St Paul’s Hospital/University of BC (as Chief Resident), and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. From 2020 to 2023, Dr. Adams was Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Public Health at Indigenous Services Canada, where his focus was the national COVID-19 response and recovery. From 2014 to 2020, he was the FNHA’s inaugural Chief Medical Officer (CMO). His role at the FNHA included setting up the newly created OCMO, monitoring and reporting on the health of the First Nations population, developing new ways to focus on wellness from a First Nations perspective, and advocating for cultural safety across the health system. Before joining the FNHA the first time in 2014, Dr. Adams served as BC’s Deputy Provincial Health Officer from 2012 to 2014, where he provided direction on First Nations health issues to the BC Ministry of Health, reported to First Nations citizens on health issues affecting the general population, and set out a path for the improvement of First Nations health and wellness. He was recently a Harkness Fellow at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu, HI, for 2024/25.
Dr. Celeste Loewe, Medical Officer, Health and Wellness, grew up in beautiful Vancouver where she obtained her bachelor’s degree and undergraduate medical degree. She completed residency training in Northern Ontario in the specialties of public health and preventive medicine and family. After working with First Nations and Inuit Health Branch in Alberta and Ottawa under Indigenous Services Canada, she is happy to return to Vancouver to work with FNHA.
Specializations: Communicable Disease and Immunization
Dr. Kamran Golmohammadi, Medical Officer, Public Health, is a Medical Officer and physician specializing in Public Health. He completed his graduate studies and medical residency at the University of Alberta, followed by six months of advanced training in the Healthy Heart Program at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital. Before joining the Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO), Dr. Golmohammadi served as a Medical Health Officer in a British Columbia regional health authority for six years.
Currently, Dr. Golmohammadi is a Medical Officer at OCMO and a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine, School of Population and Public Health. He is a passionate advocate for a relational approach to health care and is dedicated to challenging the misconception that health outcomes are solely determined by individual behaviors. He underscores the importance of understanding the historical impacts of social injustice, discrimination, stigma, and structural inequities to advance cultural competency in health care.
Dr. Golmohammadi serves on several provincial and national committees, including the British Columbia Public Health Executive Committee, the BC Public Health Leadership Community of Practice, the BC Specialist Services Committee, and the Canada Public Health Working Group on Remote and Isolated Communities. He is also an author member of the Cochrane Collaboration. His areas of focus include public health leadership, environmental public health, health emergency response, and injury prevention.
Dr. Nolan Hop Wo, Medical Officer, Mental Health and Wellness, is a member of the Métis Nation of Greater Victoria. He completed his medical training at UBC’s Island Medical Program in Victoria, BC, and his psychiatry specialty training at Western University in London, Ontario. Prior to that, he obtained a Bachelor of Nursing Degree at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Hop Wo has five years’ experience working as a consultant psychiatrist in Alberta at a tertiary referral centre in an area with an over-represented Indigenous patient population. He was Resident Director with the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada from 2014 to 2017 and a physician member of the Alberta Medical Association Indigenous Health Committee from 2020 to 2021. He continues to work as a locum psychiatrist on Vancouver Island and in rural Alberta.
Specializations: Mental Health and Wellness / Addictions.
Dr. Jae Ford, Medical Officer, Gender and Public Health, is a proud Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer (2SIQ) lnu with trans experience and uses the pronouns she and they, as well as the Mi’kmaw pronoun nekm, a singular third-person term meaning “she,” “he” or “they.” She has mixed Mi’kmaw-European ancestry, with her Mi’kmaw ancestry coming from her mother’s family. They are incredibly grateful to have grown up and been raised by their family in their home territory, Ktaqmkuk in Mi’kma’ki (“land across the water,” or the island of Newfoundland), but now reside in Lekwungen tung’exw (Victoria, BC). Her reconnection to her Mi’kmaw culture, language, and teachings has grounded her in Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing), equity, and relational accountability.
They completed their medical residency training in Public Health and Preventive Medicine (including Family Medicine) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She also completed a Master of Public Health (MPH) at UBC and a Doctor of Medicine at Memorial University. They have had a lifelong interest and passion for Gender Health, starting with their formative adolescent experiences with Planned Parenthood – NL Sexual Health Centre and their 2SIQ/LGBTQIAP+ youth leadership camp, Camp Eclipse. She has been fortunate to be part of teams rooted in equity and justice, such as the Unlearning & Undoing White Supremacy and Indigenous-Specific Racism Lab, the Two-Spirit Dry Lab, the Gender and Sex in Methods and Measurements Toolkit Advisory Committee, and the Board of Directors (Health Advisory Committee) for Health Initiative for Men.
Specializations: Gender Health, Gender-Affirming Care and Research, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Wellness, Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Health, Health Equity and Justice.