We are IH: Director focuses on culture of Indigenous health care

November 20, 2025

Name: Dr. Roseann Larstone (she/her/hers)
Job Title: Corporate Director, Indigenous Cultural Safety and Anti-Racism Education
Length of Service: Five months
Worksite: Kelowna Community Health and Service Centre
Community: Vernon
Ancestral Territory: syilx

Dr. Roseann Larstone carries her work with both purpose and drive. Roseann lives in Armstrong and is based in the Kelowna Community Health and Service Centre, where she serves as Corporate Director of Indigenous Cultural Safety and Anti-Racism Education within the Indigenous Partnerships portfolio. She’s deeply grounded in her values and identity as a member of the Métis Nation, and she honours the territory of the syilx Nation, where she lives, learns and works.

For Roseann, acknowledging the land is an active reminder of the lived experiences, individual and collective responsibilities, and commitments to peoples and place that guide her.

“For me, reconciliation is grounded in respectful relationships, awareness and acceptance of the shared history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in this country and working together toward a more just and equitable reality,” explains Roseann.

Living within the colonial experience, she understands the ways in which interlocking systems bear down on Indigenous communities and families to influence lived realities. Her roots and cultural perspectives continue to shape the way she moves through the world.

In this Story…

Learn more about Roseann’s journey with IH

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Learn more about Roseann’s journey with IH

Roseann’s path to health care was rooted in meaning and purpose. Before joining the health sector in 2020, Roseann spent more than two decades training, researching, and teaching in post-secondary institutions across B.C.

Her areas of work included adolescent mental health, program evaluation and Indigenous health. She spent nearly a decade teaching within the Northern Medical Program (a distributed site of UBC’s Undergraduate Medical Program). She also held appointments at the University of Northern British Columbia and the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health.

Her transition from academia to Northern Health (NH) brought her to system change initiatives. These included enhancing and expanding the Indigenous Patient Liaison Program, developing and implementing Indigenous Cultural Safety Education for NH, developing Indigenous health policy, and supporting safe and inclusive work environments for Indigenous staff.

“I decided to join the health sector as I have always looked to undertake work that has meaning and purpose,” shares Roseann.

When the opportunity emerged in 2025 to join IH’s Indigenous Partnerships portfolio, she knew it would allow her to continue important and necessary work that aligns so closely her background, experiences, and aspirations for system change.

Now, only five months into her role at IH, Roseann says no two days are the same, which she loves. Each day brings something new, whether it’s building connections and relationships, or pursuing opportunities to support staff and physicians in creating better health experiences and outcomes for Indigenous Peoples.

Professionally and personally, I am guided by values of respect, honesty, strength, integrity, and kindness flowing from my lived reality as an Indigenous person navigating colonial systems while at the same time walking in, and interpreting between, two worlds.”

-- Dr. Roseann Larstone

Her proudest moments come from seeing teams lean into learning and meaningful change. She speaks highly of her colleagues, describing them as people who are eager to continue this work alongside her. “Being aware, attentive and responsive to what is happening with others around me is important,” she says, noting that empathy, respect and lifelong learning guide her every day.

Roseann looks forward to continuing to strengthen IH’s processes, policies, programs, and services by centering Indigenous knowledge and ways of being. She’s motivated by the chance to drive transformation in ways that uplift and center Indigenous People’s lived experience and worldviews.

Outside of work, she cherishes any chance to travel with her sister. Travel includes visiting family in Manitoba or attending arts-focused events. And this year brings another milestone— “I'm looking forward to moving into my new home!”

As a warm, thoughtful and values-based leader, Roseann brings both expertise and heart to the important work she does every day.