Special Edition: New Chief Financial Officer
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Glen Copping, CPA, P. Eng., MBA to the role of Chief Financial Officer and VP of Systems Development & Performance for Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH).
Glen brings extensive financial and strategic planning experience from the technology industry, along with deep knowledge of performance metrics, business transformation and the complexities of consolidated services. Glen comes to VCH from Microsoft Corporation, where he served in a number of senior finance roles and most recently as Senior Finance Director for Manufacturing Supply Chain and Information Services. He is a natural collaborator with a history of leading and bringing out the best in large, multi-disciplinary teams. He is results-driven and articulate in describing that results are about more than the bottom line. He has built a strong reputation for his visionary approach to financial leadership and his career has been devoted to ensuring the organizations in which he works are at the cutting edge of what they do.
While this will be his first direct experience in health care, Glen is no stranger to complex work environments. Prior to joining Microsoft, Glen worked for Nortel Networks, a multinational telecommunications and data networking manufacturing company. Among his responsibilities there was combining 23 accounts payable locations across North America, re-engineering processes and bringing them together in one location. With his ability to balance innovation with efficiency, I have no doubt that he will inject new ideas into VCH, helping us succeed as we take on large-scale change initiatives such as the Clinical and Systems Transformation project.
Glen is a native Vancouverite. He grew up here and this is where he began his career as an engineer after earning his Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of British Columbia, and an MBA from Simon Fraser University. His career path evolved to include accounting and successively senior positions in the United States, but Glen is excited to return to the city that is still home to his family and social network.
As Chief Financial Officer and VP of Systems Development & Performance, Glen will be responsible for a range of areas including Financial Services, General Counsel and Legal Services, Facilities, Business Initiatives and Support Services (BISS), Patient Flow Improvement, Internal Audit, Supply Chain and Logistics, and Decision Support. He will commence his new role on Monday, September 16.
As we prepare to welcome Glen, I wish to extend my thanks to Mary Ackenhusen who has served as our Interim CFO and VP of Systems Development & Performance since February. Mary has led us through a challenging economic time that has impacted not just VCH, but North America overall. Throughout, she has been insightful and decisive and an invaluable resource to her colleagues on the senior executive team.
Over the next six to eight weeks, Mary and Glen will work together through a transition period providing Glen time to connect with his team and get up to speed on his new portfolio. In order to maintain traction on certain VCH commitments and project milestones, Mary will retain leadership of HSSBC and Facilities for approximately three to four months. Following this period, I expect her to return fully to her role as Chief Operating Officer for the Vancouver Community of Care, which continues to be well served by her two Executive Directors, Vivian Eliopoulos and Laura Case.
Please join me in welcoming Glen and thanking Mary.
Dr. David Ostrow
President & CEO