New Health Board Chairs Appointed

The BC government has appointed a new chairperson for the Interior Health board.

Doug Cochrane is the group’s new leader, taking over for John O’Fee.

Cochrane is the chair and provincial patient safety officer of the BC Patient Safety and Quality Council.

Health Minister Adrian Dix has also appointed Dr. Selena Lawrie and Cindy Stewart as board members.

“They (appointees) have significant experience in health care and their dedication to their communities will contribute to our goal as a government to provide leadership for a strong public health-care system in British Columbia.”

Pictured: Dr. Doug Cochrane, new chair of Interior Health Board

Dix notes Dr. Doug Cochrane has held a variety of important roles within the health-care system, and will be able to use his breadth of experience in patient safety and quality to enhance the care offered by Interior Health.

Dix has also appointed new chairs to the Fraser (Jim Sinclair), Island (Leah Hollins), and Northern (Colleen Nyce) Health Boards.

Boards are responsible for the governance and management of health services in the province. They work with health authority leadership to establish the organization’s overall vision and ensure there is appropriate community consultation. Boards also regularly review the organization’s long-term plans, look at significant issues affecting the organization and evaluate results.

BACKGROUNDER
Appointments to Interior Health’s board of directors

Dr. Doug Cochrane is the chair and provincial patient safety and quality officer of the BC Patient Safety and Quality Council. Cochrane is professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia in neurosurgery. Previously, he chaired the BC Patient Safety Taskforce and has served as a member of the board of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.

Dr. Selena Lawrie is a family physician and site director for the University of British Columbia Family Practice Residency Program in Kamloops. Lawrie is also the president of Supporting Team Excellence with Patients Society and a steering committee member representative for the Ministry of Health in the Physicians Health Program.

Cindy Stewart is the retired president of the Health Sciences Association of B.C. She was vice-president of the BC Federation of Labour and a member of the executive board of the National Union of Public and General Employees. Stewart served as one of two labour representatives appointed to the joint advisory committee to the arbitration bureau, and was a member of an adjudication committee for one of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s three 1999 strategic programs: Society, Culture and the Health of Canadians. She holds a bachelor of science in rehabilitation medicine from the University of British Columbia and has worked as physiotherapist.