Regional Medical Director, Indigenous Health

Job Summary

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is looking for a Regional Medical Director, Indigenous Health

 

Reporting directly to the Vice President, Medicine and Academic Affairs (VPMAA) and working in close partnership with the Vice President, Indigenous Health, the Regional Medical Director, Indigenous Health provides senior medical leadership to advance Indigenous health equity, cultural safety, and anti-racism across the region. The Regional Medical Director acts as a key advisor and system leader, supporting the integration of Indigenous perspectives, knowledge, and priorities into clinical planning, policy development, quality improvement, and health system transformation, including contributing to system level governance, strategic alignment, and continuous improvement. The time commitment for this role is expected to be 0.2 FTE in alignment with the scope and responsibilities of the role.  

Working in partnership with Indigenous leaders, Elders, the Indigenous Health team, operational leaders, medical staff, and system partners, the Regional Medical Director promotes the delivery of culturally safe, trauma-informed, and person- and family-centred care for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and serves as a bridge between medical staff, Indigenous partners, and organizational leadership to advance shared priorities.

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:

The Regional Medical Director, Indigenous Health is responsible for providing leadership in the following areas:

Strategic Medical Leadership

• Provide strategic partnership and contributes to the development, implementation, and ongoing advancement of VCH’s Indigenous Health vision, strategic direction, and priorities in partnership with Indigenous leaders and communities.
• Advise on regional priorities, including clinical care, access, quality, and patient and community experience impacting Indigenous persons, families, and communities.
• Support the establishment and sustainment of Indigenous health equity, Indigenous cultural safety, and Indigenous-specific anti-racism across medical staff committees, leadership forums, and governance bodies in alignment with existing organizational frameworks.
• Partner with Indigenous leaders, First Nations, and communities to inform priorities, guide approaches, and ensure alignment with Indigenous models of health and wellness.

Clinical Quality and Practice Improvement

• Provide strategic partnership and advice to improve the quality, safety, accessibility, and cultural safety of care and experience for Indigenous persons, families and communities.
• Provide guidance to identify and inform opportunities to address systemic inequities in clinical care, service design, and health outcomes facing Indigenous persons, families and communities as informed by data and community perspectives.
• Support the development, implementation, and evaluation of clinical and system-level quality improvement initiatives that advance culturally safe care.

Indigenous Cultural Safety and Anti-Racism

• Lead and partner on strategies to advance Indigenous cultural safety and Indigenous-specific anti-racism across VCH.
• Support medical staff engagement in ongoing learning, reflection, and accountability related to Indigenous cultural safety, humility, and anti-racism.
• Provide guidance on medical staff practice issues where racism, discrimination, or culturally unsafe care is identified or may impact Indigenous persons, families, communities, or staff.
• Provide guidance and stewardship to senior leaders in the development and advancement of strategies that strengthen medical staff accountability for respectful, equitable, and culturally safe care.

Medical Staff Engagement and Change Leadership

• Engage medical staff and medical leadership in system transformation initiatives related to Indigenous Health.
• Promote and support awareness and uptake and integration of leading practices, policies, and standards related to Indigenous cultural safety and equitable care.
• Provide partnership and advice in navigating complex clinical, operational, and relational issues that involve Indigenous Health considerations.

Policy, Planning, and System Improvement

• Provide senior medical leadership on, and support the development of, policies, procedures, standards, and pathways to ensure the inclusion of Indigenous Health priorities and removal of systemic barriers.
• Support the use of data and Indigenous-informed approaches to identify health service gaps and improve health system responsiveness and outcomes.
• Leads and partners on strategies to inform regional planning discussions related to access, care pathways, quality, and patient experience for Indigenous peoples.

Qualifications

Qualifications:

• A Doctor of Medicine Degree, Nurse Practitioner Degree or Midwifery Degree and active certification and licensure in good standing with the appropriate regulatory College.   
• For a holder of a Doctor of Medicine Degree or Midwifery 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. 
• 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. 
• Strong understanding of medical staff governance, medical staff and CMP structures, and system-level leadership.  
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional, enterprise-wide initiatives. 

Closing Statement

Interested applicants please submit a resume and covering letter, including alignment to VCH values and pillars, by September 5, 2026, to:

 

Olivia Todd ([email protected])

Manager, Talent Acquisition, Medical Staff

 

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. Why Join Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH):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. Next • 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 vital 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 Canada’s Top 100 Employers, BC’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers and Canada's Top Employers for Young People in 2026.Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for this posting. ***Employees of VCH must apply online via the Internal Career Portal on CareerHub, you are currently viewing the External Career Portal. Refer to the https://my.vch.ca/working-here/job-postings site for instructions on how to view internal job postings and how to apply as an employee. Current VCH employees who apply to this posting using this external site will be considered as an external candidate. Seniority will not apply.***Thank you for your interest in Vancouver Coastal Health.