Jennifer MacKenzie

Chief Operating Officer, Richmond Hospital

How long have you worked at VCH?

I began my new role on November 3.

Tell us what you do at VCH in one or two sentences:

How about four sentences? It’s my job to get people excited about transforming how we provide care as well as the ways we work with each other. I want to remove blockages to daily work flows, and free-up time to spend at the bedside. Improved patient outcomes will be all of our reward.

What is your favourite thing about your work?

I love helping people realize their potential. I am an improvement junkie at heart.

How does your work contribute to the VCH True North goals?

By focusing on systems improvement and transformation, we can find more time and develop new, innovative ways of providing our patients, clients and residents with the best care. Personally, in my limited time here I’ve already seen that VCH Richmond has great people doing great work. I hope we can make it even better.

One thing we may be surprised to learn about you?

I have a three-year-old daughter who speaks Mandarin.

What makes you happy?

Connecting with people, creating memories and special moments. And CBC radio makes be happy. I could listen to Stuart Mclean’s Vinyl Café all day.

Most healthy habit?

I start every day with a kale smoothie. I know you’re thinking “yuk,” but it’s sooo good. I also walk up four flights of stairs every morning when I get to work.

Favourite vacation spot?

I’m not the beach-lounger type. I like vacations where I can increase my knowledge of global health and human rights issues. Last year, my family took a trip to Kenya where we volunteered for Free the Children.  But we do lots of fun, kid stuff, too. We also went to Disneyland recently. It’s a magical place when you have a small child.