Dr. Bas Masri (right), Surgeon-in-Chief and Head of the Department of Orthopaedics, describes to Minister Terry Lake the process of hip and joint replacement in August 2013.

Health Minister Terry Lake tours VGH

On August 19, 2013, the Honourable Terry Lake made his first visit to VGH as B.C.’s Minister of Health. We, in turn, made every effort to make a best first impression. How did we do?

“The minister’s visit was an opportunity for us to showcase our staff’s and physicians’ outstanding achievements, while at the same time helping him understand the challenges we

Speaking with staff: Vivian Edosomwan (left), a mental health nurse, talks to Minister Lake and Chris Flynn, patient services manager, at Willow Pavilion, a tertiary mental health facility on the VGH campus.

Speaking with staff: Vivian Edosomwan (left), a mental health nurse, talks to Minister Lake and Chris Flynn, patient services manager, at Willow Pavilion, a tertiary mental health facility on the VGH campus.

continue to face as demand for health care increases,” says  Mary Ackenhusen, interim CFO and VP, systems development & performance.

Over the course of the minister’s tour, he visited pivotal treatment areas, including the hospital’s:

  • Emergency Department
  • Intensive Care Unit
  • Operating Rooms
  • Willow Pavilion
  • site of the future Joseph and Rosalie Segal family Health Centre (opening in 2017)

“The minister came prepared and well informed,” says Mary. “He asked many questions, and I think he understood and appreciated our overview, accomplishments and the challenges we face.”

The tour concluded at the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre where an informal, roundtable discussion touched on the role and importance of partnerships with our VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation and the VCH Research Institute.

Coming soon: Minister Terry Lake will next tour UBC Hospital.

In the ORs: Dr. Bas Masri (right), surgeon-in-chief and head of the Department of Orthopaedics at VGH, describes to Minister Terry Lake the process around hip and joint replacement in a VGH operating room.

In the ORs: Dr. Bas Masri (right), surgeon-in-chief and head of the Department of Orthopaedics at VGH, describes to Minister Terry Lake the process around hip and joint replacement in a VGH operating room.

 

Roundtable discussion: Minister Lake (centre facing) ended his tour at the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre chatting with (minister’s left to right): Barbara Grantham, president and CEO, VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation; Mary Ackenhusen, interim CFO and VP, systems development & performance; Robert McMaster, executive director, VCHRI; and Dean Chittock, senior medical director, Vancouver Acute.

Roundtable discussion: Minister Lake (centre facing) ended his tour at the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre chatting with (minister’s left to right): Barbara Grantham, president and CEO, VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation; Mary Ackenhusen, interim CFO and VP, systems development & performance; Robert McMaster, executive director, VCHRI; and Dean Chittock, senior medical director, Vancouver Acute.