Vivian Eliopoulos appointed CEO at VCH

VANCOUVER – The Board of Directors at Vancouver Coastal Health is pleased to announce the appointment of Vivian Eliopoulos (pictured) as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of VCH, effective immediately. Ms. Eliopoulos had been serving as the interim leader of the organization.

“During this unprecedented year, as interim president and CEO, Vivian Eliopoulos has provided exemplary strategic leadership, guiding us through a global pandemic while ensuring exceptional patient care remains at the heart of everything we do,” said Dr. Penny Ballem, VCH board chair.

“Vivian is a remarkable and authentic leader with a deep commitment to our mandate of service to the public, our patients and clients, and our staff. Her work across VCH over the last year has ensured ongoing safe, quality patient care, strengthened our senior leadership team and deepened our relationships with partners – all while ensuring VCH actively supported the provincial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

More than 35 years ago, Vivian started her career as a nurse in orthopedics, trauma, and critical care at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), rising quickly to positions of progressive responsibility.

In 1998, she moved into Information Management and Information Technology and, over the next 11 years, she was responsible for clinical informatics, leading and driving a number of key clinical information systems initiatives across the region.

Over her many years in positions of leadership at VCH, she has led or played a vital role in developing strategic programs and initiatives which continue to have a lasting, positive impact on the organization and the Province – examples include the establishment of the Trauma Program at VCH, leading to the achievement of VGH as a level 1 Trauma Centre, and the development of Care Connect, a foundational platform for the provincial electronic health record system.

Prior to her role as interim President and CEO, she was the Vice-President of Vancouver-Richmond Acute Care Services and led a diverse portfolio of secondary, tertiary and quaternary hospital and ambulatory services for patients from across the province.

She has also been serving as the VCH executive sponsor for the Lower Mainland diagnostic imaging, laboratory and pharmacy services, which provide critical patient services to both VCH and Providence Health Care (PHC). Since March 2020, Vivian has been the senior executive lead at the helm of the VCH-PHC COVID-19 Regional Emergency Operations Committee, providing support and guidance to leaders across VCH throughout an unprecedented public health crisis.

With her extensive experience and deep commitment to exceptional patient and client care, and academic excellence across the broad continuum of health services at VCH, Vivian will continue to work closely with the Board, the Ministry of Health and the senior executive team in delivering on the provincial mandate, key priorities, and the ongoing strengthening of the health authority, all focused on delivering the best possible healthcare to British Columbians.

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is responsible for the delivery of $4.1 billion in community, hospital and long-term care to more than one million people in communities including Richmond, Vancouver, the North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky corridor, Powell River, Bella Bella and Bella Coola. VCH also provides specialized care and services for people throughout B.C. and is the province’s hub of healthcare education and research.