Michael Li

Job Title
Director, System Improvement Vancouver

Department/Location
Decision Support

How long have you worked at VCH?
Ten years.

Tell us what you do at VCH in one or two sentences:
I use information to help decide how to create improvement in the healthcare system. Examples include forecasting how many hospital beds or operating rooms we will require, measuring wait times to improve patient flow, and tracking the impact of our key initiatives such as Primary Care Redesign.

What’s your favourite thing about your work?
All the wonderful people that I have the chance to work with at VCH.

How does your work contribute to the VCH True North goals?
The improvement work we do in Decision Support most closely relates to “innovate for sustainability” and “provide the best care.” However, as a part of the Vancouver leadership team, I participate in work that touches all parts of the True North goals. In particular, I value the “best workforce” and “people first” parts of the triangle as coaching/mentoring is one of my passions.

One thing we might be surprised to learn about you:
I like outdoor adventure. In the past 6 months I have cycled from Vancouver to Whistler in the GranFondo and rock climbed the Squamish Chief (see picture!).

Who is somebody that you consider a major role model in your life?
My father. He taught me a lot about what it means to have integrity which has helped me tremendously in my career.

Who or what inspires you?
Definitely music. My wife and I are both musicians and routinely play with other “VCHers”. We also travel the world to see shows. We’ve been to the Newport Folk Festival and we’ve travelled to London to see Tom Petty play at Royal Albert Hall. Music is inspiring to me as it allows us to connect across cultures. It seems to be a universal aspect of the human experience.

Most healthy habit:
As I don’t own a car, I bike to work almost every day, rain or shine!

Favourite vacation spot:
Either New York or Paris… I think I’ll go with New York.