Vancouver Coastal Health, along with our friends, families and colleagues across our province, has spent almost two years in some of the most trying circumstances we've ever had to experience. In addition to a global pandemic, extreme heat events with ravages of forest fires, and the tragedies associated with Residential Schools have added even more challenges to provide care to those within our region and beyond.

We have endured a lot, yet when I look at the incredible leadership, resilience and innovation shown by our medical staff during these trying times, it gives me great optimism for the future of VCH.

We've heard from medical staff that you appreciate the ways we've been engaging with you over the past year-and-a-half and that you'd like to maintain the open communications. We've listened to you and worked to develop new approaches, shifted our communication and information flow, and we're continuing to leverage what we've learned works well and change what doesn't.

We've developed new bulletins, medical staff forums, and are currently working to rebuild the medical staff website with your input so that it gives you the timely information you need.

We know that to continue to improve and grow our knowledge and applications, we also have to make space for our own health and wellness. Wellness is a theme you'll see echoed by my colleagues in their messages to you because we've heard from you that it needs to be a critical focus. Our senior executive team and the Board have made this a commitment to staff and medical staff.

As we manage through COVID-19 together, I am grateful for all of your efforts in helping to learn, improve and apply our new knowledge and actions towards health outcomes for those in our care and for ourselves as care givers.​

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