Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is looking for a Regional Medical Director, Equity
Reporting directly to the Vice President, Medicine and Academic Affairs (VPMAA), the Regional Medical Director, Equity provides senior medical leadership for advancing equity- and anti-racism- informed medical practice, governance, and culture across Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). The time commitment for this role is expected to be 0.5 FTE in alignment with the scope and responsibilities of the role.
The role is accountable to the VPMAA and supports oversight and reporting to the Senior Executive Team and the VCH Board of Directors regarding the strategic integration, governance, and continuous improvement of systems that embed equity principles within medical leadership, medical staff, and credentialed medical providers (CMP) professional practice, learning, and decision making.
The Regional Medical Director, Equity acts as a key advisor and system leader, bringing a clinical perspective to the integration of equity into medical staff and CMP governance, policy, clinical practice, education, and organizational culture. The role works in a dyad partnership with the Executive Director, Equity, providing medical leadership to support the translation and implementation of VCH Equity strategies into medical contexts and practice environments. Together, the dyad advances coherent, system wide approaches that strengthen accountability, promote cultural safety, and reduce inequities experienced by patients, communities, medical staff, and CMP. The role will work in close partnership with Indigenous Health leadership to advance shared priorities to address Indigenous specific racism and embed Indigenous cultural safety across medical leadership, governance, and practice.
This role operates within a model of shared accountability and partnership, recognizing the distributed nature of medical staff governance and the intersection with operational, academic, and corporate functions. The work is grounded in VCH’s commitment to our pillars of Indigenous Cultural Safety, Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Planetary Health.
Key Accountabilities:
- Enterprise Strategy, Governance & System Integration
- Provides strategic partnership and contributes to the development, implementation, and ongoing advancement of a VCH-wide Equity strategy for medical staff and CMP, in alignment with existing VCH priorities, governance structures, provincial direction, and accreditation/regulatory requirements.
- Leads and supports the integration of equity principles across medical governance, clinical practice, workforce planning, quality improvement, education, and organizational decision making.
- Supports the establishment and sustainment of expectations, structures, and processes that embed equity across medical staff committees, leadership forums, and governance bodies in alignment with existing organizational frameworks.
- Executive Alignment, Dyad Leadership & Portfolio Integration
- Exercises senior medical leadership through dyad partnership with the Executive Director, Equity to co lead strategy, priorities, and integrated delivery plans impacting medical staff and CMP.
- Exercises functional medical leadership through a formal partnership with the Senior Director, Medical Quality Leadership & Practice (MQLP) and VCH Communities of Care (Local Medical Affairs) to operationalize equity commitments within medical contexts.
- Maintains alignment and coherence with the Vice President, Communications, Equity & Partnerships and the Vice President, Medicine and Academic Affairs to support enterprise integration and accountability.
- Medical Governance, Advisory Authority & System Stewardship
- Provides guidance and stewardship to senior leaders and medical governance bodies, including the Executive Medical and Academic Leadership Team (EMALT), Health Authority Medical Advisory Committee (HAMAC), and medical staff and CMP leadership on equity policy integration, emerging risks, and strategic opportunities.
- Provides advice and guidance on system-level responses to complex and sensitive issues related to equity, discrimination, and racism within medical practice environments, ensuring psychologically safe, culturally safe, and respectful processes
- Partners with other Regional Medical Directors (e.g., Quality & Safety, Wellness, Health & Safety) to ensure alignment across priority portfolios and contributes, as appropriate, to system-level leadership forums (e.g., Medical Staff Association President’s Council).
- Medical Workforce Equity, Leadership Development & Capacity Building
- Leads and partners on strategies to advance equity in medical staff and CMP recruitment, retention, and development in partnership with medical leadership.
- Builds and strengthens equity capability across medical leadership, medical staff and CMP through targeted coaching, education, tools, and system supports.
- Provides consultative input into system-wide approaches related to respectful workplaces, psychological safety, and intersecting wellness and safety priorities in close collaboration with the Regional Medical Director, Wellness, Health & Safety.
- Acts as a visible medical leader and champion for equity, modeling inclusive leadership and advocating for culturally responsive, culturally safe, and anti racist medical practice across the organization.
- System Partnerships, External Relations & Academic Engagement
- Engages as a strategic medical partner with internal portfolios including VCH Indigenous Health, People Team, Quality & Safety, and clinical operations to enable coordinated system action and implementation.
- Establishes and sustains strategic partnerships with UBC Faculty of Medicine, Doctors of BC, the Ministry of Health, other Health Authorities, and academic and professional bodies to advance equity across the medical education and professional development continuum.
- Represents VCH as a senior medical leader in provincial and system level equity initiatives, advancing alignment, shared learning, and leading practices.
- Planning, Measurement & Continuous Improvement
- Co leads integrated planning, performance monitoring, and reporting for equity initiatives impacting medical staff and CMP.
- Leads and provides medical input into the development and application of metrics, evaluation frameworks, and reporting mechanisms in alignment with VCH structures to assess impact, outcomes, and system performance, ensuring findings inform executive and Board-level oversight, decision making, and continuous improvement.