This is the time of the year when our thoughts turn to families, friends and others. The time when we tend to think more about ourselves and our loved ones as head off to spend time with those close to us, either at home or at distant locations.

For many of you, that means taking time away from work and an opportunity to recharge and refresh as you prepare for the year ahead. For others, the holiday season will be business as usual because, unlike many businesses, health care never stops, never sleeps.

Fifteen years for VCH

Kip Woodward is chair of Vancouver Coastal Health.

Fourteen years ago, the B.C. government merged 52 health organizations into five regional and one provincial health authorities.  Vancouver Coastal Health was one of them and as we start our 15th year of delivering health care services, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your dedication, commitment and support over the past year.

Increasing demand

In 2001, there were 276,000 visits to Emergency Rooms across VCH.  Last year, that had increased almost 50 per cent to 414,000 ER visits annually. There were 591,987 visits to health clinics in the VCH area in 2001. By the end of 2014, that number had nearly doubled to more than one million visits. All of this with the number of facilities in which we deliver services remaining largely unchanged.

Last year alone, VCH served 32,215 inpatient cases, and 46,529 day-care surgical cases. Transplant surgeries have increased 50 per cent since 2001. These are huge numbers, but it is important to remember that each and every one of them is a person.

You are the key

What’s key to delivering this service and maintaining the quality of care needed to make it happen is you – our 2,100 physicians, 14,300 full and part time staff, and over 3,000 volunteers. You are the ones who make our health care services and programs accessible to over one million B.C. residents and who continually meet the demand.

Innovation, dedication and leadership have been keys to VCH’s ability to support our communities. As we enter our 15th year, I’m more optimistic than ever about what lies ahead and want to thank all of you for the work you have done – and will do – as a member of the VCH team.

Thank you

On behalf of the Board, I wish all of you and your loved ones a safe, happy and healthy holiday season and a wonderful 2016.

Kip