Job Summary:
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:
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Enterprise Strategy, Governance & System Integration
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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.
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Leads and supports the integration of equity principles across medical governance, clinical practice, workforce planning, quality improvement, education, and organizational decision making.
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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.
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Executive Alignment, Dyad Leadership & Portfolio Integration
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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.
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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.
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Medical Governance, Advisory Authority & System Stewardship
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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.
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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
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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).
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Medical Workforce Equity, Leadership Development & Capacity Building
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Leads and partners on strategies to advance equity in medical staff and CMP recruitment, retention, and development in partnership with medical leadership.
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Builds and strengthens equity capability across medical leadership, medical staff and CMP through targeted coaching, education, tools, and system supports.
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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.
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System Partnerships, External Relations & Academic Engagement
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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.
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Represents VCH as a senior medical leader in provincial and system level equity initiatives, advancing alignment, shared learning, and leading practices.
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Planning, Measurement & Continuous Improvement
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Co leads integrated planning, performance monitoring, and reporting for equity initiatives impacting medical staff and CMP.
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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.
Qualifications:
- A Doctor of Medicine Degree, Nurse Practitioner Degree or Midwifery Degree and certification or licensure in good standing with the appropriate regulatory College.
- For a holder of a Doctor of Medicine Degree, eligibility for a faculty appointment with the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine or Simon Fraser University School of Medicine; for holder of a Nurse Practitioner Degree, eligibility for a faculty appointment with a School of Nursing at a post-secondary institution in British Columbia.
- Eligibility for medical staff privileges or CMP within VCH.
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Demonstrated senior medical leadership experience developing and implementing organizational strategic initiatives within a large, complex organization to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion and anti-racism preferably within a public health care or other large complex public sector, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
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Strong understanding of medical staff governance, medical staff and CMP structures, and system-level leadership.
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional, enterprise-wide initiatives.
Role Specific Expertise:
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Demonstrated ability to build relationships, in particular ability to build credible strategic partnerships with internal and external partners across all levels of the organization.
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Demonstrated deep commitment to supporting First Nations, Métis and Inuit and Indigenous communities, and has the knowledge and understanding to meet the needs of the organization in living its commitment to Indigenous cultural safety, Indigenous-specific anti-racism, and reconciliation to uplift Indigenous populations.
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Practices the recognition, inclusion and support of all types and aspects of diversity at all stages of engagement, with an understanding of the barriers experienced by individuals from equity-deserving groups.
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In-depth knowledge of anti-racism principles, health care disparities, and cultural competence.
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Strong understanding of relevant laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to equity.
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Demonstrated expertise in senior level consultation, facilitation and coaching, including the ability to support executive leaders, directors and cross functional teams through sensitive, complex or high risk discussions using conflict sensitive and trauma informed approaches.
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Advanced communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex issues and develop clear, accessible and compelling narratives, presentations and briefing materials that support executive decision making, accountability and organizational learning.
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Strong change management capability, including the ability to support large scale cultural and organizational transformation, navigate resistance, influence behaviour changes and contribute to embedding inclusive practices across diverse operational environments.
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Demonstrated ability to apply systems thinking in strategic planning contexts, including identifying interdependencies, anticipating risks and contributing to the design of long term organizational change initiatives.
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Proven program and project leadership capability, including skills in prioritization, resource coordination, implementation support, evaluation and cross organizational alignment.
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Advanced analytical skills, including the ability to examine policies, programs and engagement data through an intersectional lens to identify systemic trends, assess progress and inform executive level decision making.
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Demonstrated political acuity, sound judgment and organizational awareness when navigating complex environments, advising senior leaders and communicating sensitive or high impact information.
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Understanding accessibility principles within complex public sector environments, including applying legislative requirements, universal design principles and recognized best practice standards.
Closing Statement:
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.
Interested applicants please submit a resume and covering letter, including alignment to VCH values and pillars, by July 24, 2026, to:
Olivia Todd
Manager, Talent Acquisition, Medical Staff
