Special Edition: VCH President and CEO steps down

As we have all experienced, there are junctures in all of our lives where we make decisions to create change. At these points in time, we often make decisions that impact not only the present, but also a much longer term.  These are huge decisions that are made after a lot of soul-searching, with excitement and even some trepidation.

Today, I am taking a moment of your time to share one of my moments of change.

I have informed Kip Woodward and the Board of Vancouver Coastal Health of my intention to step down as the President and CEO of Vancouver Coastal Health at the end of March 2014.

My decision to move on has not been easy and, as my family will tell you, has required much thought and consideration. Why? Because the more that I have been involved with VCH, the more impressed I have become with the level of creativity, compassion and caring that all of you – our staff, physicians and volunteers – display every day.

It has been an honour and privilege to have been a part of this organization since I started my clinical practice in Vancouver in 1978, and especially to have served as its leader since 2009

I hope you have understood why we have stressed the importance of the “People First” lens and True North strategic goals for VCH. As an administrative team, over the past five years, we have tried to redesign our system to be patient, client, resident and family oriented, rather than provider focused. I have tried to demonstrate in my time as President and CEO that only by providing better, more appropriate, effective and efficient care without side effects and complications, can we succeed.

While I have worked with many of you over the years in the context of my administrative role, I have also worked with some of you in my clinical role. Some of my most memorable and rewarding work in my clinical capacity has been work with the Leukemia and Bone Marrow Transplantation unit, along with the years spent with the lung transplantation and the pulmonary hypertension programs. To work with individuals at the cutting edge of medical practice has been an inspiration.

Both my administrative and clinical roles have provided me with an enriched professional life and have offered me the opportunity to work with some truly remarkable people.

British Columbians should be extremely proud of the work that you do and the services you provide, to not just the communities within our geographic boundaries, but to the entire province. I know I am.

I hope to share more ideas about quality health care and leadership, during the next final few months that we work together. For now, let me reiterate what an incredible honour it has been to have known and worked with so many of you and to have served as your leader for the past five years.

My time at Vancouver Coastal Health will always be a special part of my life and for that, I thank all of you.

Dr. David Ostrow
President & CEO