Executive Director, Quality, Safety & Patient Experience

The salary range for this position is CAD $79.38/Hr. - CAD $119.07/Hr.

Come work as an Executive Director, Quality, Safety & Patient Experience with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)!

Vancouver Coastal Health is looking for an Executive Director, Quality, Safety & Patient Experience, to join the team.

Reporting to the dyad leadership of the Vice President, Professional Practice and the Vice President, Medicine and Academic Affairs, the Executive Director provides senior executive leadership for Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) enterprise-wide quality, patient safety, infection prevention and control (IPAC), and patient experience portfolio.

This role leads the strategic planning, development, integration, and transformation of quality and safety initiatives across VCH, including oversight of

• Patient Quality and Safety programs
• Patient Experience
• Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC)
• The central quality program and implementation across all Communities of Care

Working within VCH’s dyad leadership framework, the Executive Director collaborates closely with medical quality leadership to integrate clinical and medical standards of care, surgical quality, change management, accreditation, epidemiology, engagement, data analytics, and performance measurement into a cohesive, system-wide approach.

The Executive Director champions a culture of continuous quality improvement and patient safety, ensuring measurable reductions in adverse events and meaningful improvements in care experiences for patients and families.

Strategic Mandate

The Executive Director is accountable for leading the development, implementation, and stewardship of a refreshed organizational Quality Plan that drives measurable transformation in quality, patient safety, and patient experience across VCH.

This includes

• Leading enterprise-wide quality and clinical transformation initiatives
• Ensuring alignment with evidence-based best practices
• Establishing clear performance measures and accountability frameworks
• Embedding continuous improvement across clinical and operational environments

This work is grounded in VCH’s commitments to Indigenous Cultural Safety, Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Planetary Health.

The Executive Director partners closely with executive and senior leaders across Risk Management, Professional Practice Nursing, Senior Operational and Medical Leaders, Nurse Practitioners and Inter-professional Medical Providers, Allied Health, Clinical Informatics, Decision Support and Analytics, and VCH Research Institute leadership.

Externally, the role collaborates with a number of provincial and national partners including

• Health Quality BC
• Health Authorities
• Accreditation Canada
• Ministry of Health
• Canadian Institute for Health Information

Key Accountabilities

• Enterprise Quality, Safety & Patient Experience Strategy: Sets the strategic direction and oversees the development, implementation, and delivery of medical, clinical quality, patient safety, and patient experience programs across VCH.
• Translates research and emerging evidence into policy and practice.
• Leads the development, integration, and measurement of quality and safety strategies, frameworks, and action plans.
• Establishes and monitors key performance indicators (KPIs), dashboards, and outcome measures to drive system-wide improvement.
• Patient Safety & Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC): Establishes and integrates region-wide programs and strategies for patient safety and IPAC aligned with VCH’s vision, values, and strategic priorities.
• Leads and oversees the Patient Safety Learning System and proactive initiatives to mitigate future events.
• Oversees a rigorous patient safety event review process, including presentation of system-level recommendations to the Senior Executive Team and relevant Board Committees.
• Promotes a culture of safety, accountability, transparency, and learning across the organization.
• Accreditation, Regulatory & Quality Assurance: Oversees the quality assurance program, ensuring VCH services and programs meet or exceed standards set by Accreditation Canada and other accrediting bodies.
• Ensures compliance with provincial legislation, health statutes, and regulatory standards.
• Identifies system gaps related to safety, quality, and regulatory performance and ensures corrective actions are implemented and sustained.
• Indigenous Cultural Safety & Equity Integration: Works in close partnership with Indigenous Health leadership, medical quality leadership, and operational partners to advance Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) and Indigenous-specific Anti-Racism (ISAR).
• Identifies and addresses systemic barriers impacting Indigenous Peoples and equity-deserving groups.
• Integrates equity and anti-racism principles into quality improvement strategies, accountability frameworks, and outcomes.
• Quality Performance, Analytics & Continuous Improvement: Leads quality performance measurement, data collection, reporting, and improvement initiatives within the Quality, Safety and Patient Experience portfolio, in collaboration with Decision Support and Analytics partners.
• Identifies trends and uses evidence to inform clinical initiatives and system-level transformation.
• Evaluates service effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and integration within a complex health system environment.
• Education & Subject Matter Expertise: Provides subject matter expertise and education to clinical leadership, medical staff, and other partners regarding quality, patient safety, IPAC, accreditation standards, statutes, regulations, and emerging best practices.
• Advises executive and operational leaders on evolving legislative and regulatory requirements affecting quality and patient safety.
• Supports capability-building across the organization to strengthen clinical governance and safety culture.
• Financial & Operational Stewardship: Develops and manages short- and long-term capital and operating budgets aligned with strategic priorities.
• Oversees allocation of fiscal, technological, physical, and human resources.
• Ensures responsible stewardship within existing fiscal constraints.
• Leadership & Organizational Development: Designs and evolves portfolio organizational structures.
• Provides executive leadership, direction, and supervision to designated teams.
• Fosters a respectful, motivating, and high-performance environment.
• Represents VCH on relevant organizational, provincial, and national committees and chairs quality and patient safety councils as required.

Education & Experience

• Master’s degree in a relevant health profession.
• Recognized business acumen.
• Minimum of fifteen (15) years of recent, related clinical and senior leadership experience within a complex healthcare organization.
• Demonstrated experience in research methodology, evaluation of complex systems, program planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Leadership Profile & Expertise

The successful candidate brings

• Comprehensive expertise in quality and patient safety theory and its application to enterprise strategy.
• Strong knowledge of provincial legislation, health statutes, and regulations pertaining to patient safety and quality.
• Deep understanding of patient-centred frameworks and clinical governance structures.
• Exceptional relationship-building, negotiation, and consensus-building capabilities.
• Political acumen and sound judgment in navigating complex, multi-partner environments.
• Strong analytical ability to synthesize complex information into strategy and action.
• Proven fiscal management expertise.
• Demonstrated leadership that promotes inclusion, respect, empowerment, and innovation.
• Knowledge and application of change theory in leading system transformation.

Work Location

Primary Location

Lower Mainland, British Columbia

• This role is site-based and requires regular in-person presence across Vancouver Coastal Health facilities.
• Given the executive scope, system-wide partnerships, and leadership accountabilities of this portfolio, consistent on-site engagement with clinical, medical, and operational leaders is essential.
• The successful candidate must reside within the Vancouver Coastal Health region (Lower Mainland, BC).
• Remote or out-of-region arrangements are not available for this position.

Shared Values

You care for everyone

• You are compassionate, empathetic, and sensitive to the needs of others.
• You are respectful, treating people as equals, and valuing others’ perspectives and differences.
• You are appreciative of others’ efforts and give them praise when it’s due.

You are always learning

• You are open minded, always receptive to different perspectives and ways of doing things.
• You are curious and ask questions to find a deeper understanding.
• You share your expertise and mentor others by sharing your knowledge and experience.

You strive for better results

• You are accountable, and take responsibility for what you say, what you do, and who you engage in achieving better results.
• You are a solution finder, empowered to solve the challenges we face in healthcare.
• You take ownership for growth and development and personal development, always seek feedback and opportunities to improve how we do things.

As per Ministry of Health policy, all health care workers working in publicly-funded health care facilities are required to report their past receipt of certain vaccines or history of certain infections. Collecting these records will allow for offering of any missing vaccines, and for appropriate actions to be taken in the event of any future exposure to a communicable disease or during outbreaks. For all new hires and appointments to Vancouver Coastal Health, you will be asked to provide this information as part of the onboarding process.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Harleen Dastur-Randhawa, Manager, Executive Talent Acquisition at executivecareers@vch.ca.

WHY JOIN VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH?

VCH is a world class innovator in medical care, research, and teaching, delivering service to more than one million BC residents. At VCH, we embrace thinking boldly, taking smart risks, and "going first" when we believe it will lead to the best possible outcomes for patients and their families. We invite you to join us in creating healthy lives in healthy communities by showcasing our passion for care, connection to the communities we serve and our culture of teamwork that makes VCH a great place to work.

• Comprehensive health benefits package, including MSP, extended health, and dental and municipal pension plan.
• Grow your career with employer-paid training and leadership development opportunities.
• Wellness supports, including counselling, critical incident and innovative wellness services are available to employees and their immediate families.
• Award-winning recognition programs to honour staff, medical staff and volunteers.
• Access to exclusive discount offers and deals for VCH staff.

At Vancouver Coastal Health, our vision of healthy lives in healthy communities inspires us and our values and pillars guide us. We support equitable practices, diverse teams, and inclusive environments, which are integral to creating welcoming spaces where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and feel supported. We encourage applications from equity-deserving communities, including Indigenous Peoples and members of racialized groups, people with disabilities and people of all gender identities and expressions and sexual orientation.

Vancouver Coastal Health is proud to be recognized as one of BC’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers and Canada's Top Employers for Young People in 2025.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for this posting.

Thank you for your interest in Vancouver Coastal Health.