Victoria Lee steps down as CEO of Fraser Health

SURREY – Fraser Health is announcing that, effective immediately, the board and Dr. Victoria Lee (pictured left) have mutually agreed that she will be moving on from Fraser Health to pursue other opportunities. Dr. Lynn Stevenson (pictured right) has been appointed as interim president and chief executive officer at Fraser Health.

Following her appointment as president and CEO in 2018, Dr. Lee guided Fraser Health through the COVID-19 pandemic and a range of transformational changes including more than $15 billion in multi-year large capital investments, a system-wide digital twin, and a planetary health strategy.

“We would like to thank Dr. Lee for her leadership over the past six and a half years and on behalf of everyone at Fraser Health we wish her well,” said Jim Sinclair, board chair, Fraser Health. “We are grateful Dr. Stevenson will be joining the organization, and the Board will be working quickly to recruit a new permanent president and CEO as quickly as possible.”

“As I embark on an exciting new chapter in my career, I’m filled with immense pride and gratitude for the remarkable achievements we’ve accomplished together at Fraser Health over the past 15 years. Our journey has been extraordinary, marked by innovation and unwavering commitment to finding integrative solutions for our patients, families and communities,” said Dr. Lee.

Media reports have cited Fraser Health’s difficulties in providing certain types of care to the region’s fast-growing population, including emergency care.

According to a story in The Globe and Mail, “The Surrey Board of Trade, prior to the provincial election last fall, called for more healthcare infrastructure in Fraser Health. It said in a statement: “Exponential population growth continues. Services in Surrey are severely insufficient. Residents can’t be treated within the city’s borders for the three leading causes of death – heart attack, stroke, and trauma, in addition to necessary specialty pediatric services.”

“With all those pressures, the health authority’s spending, in the latest financial update, was $1.1-billion over budget. The premier’s office has directed the Health Minister to reduce the cost of administration of the healthcare system to focus resources on the front lines.”

Fraser Health is the second largest of B.C.’s five health authorities, operating 12 hospitals. It has an operating budget of $5.37 billion.

The Vancouver Sun reported: “A second hospital in Surrey is under construction and will cost $2.88 billion, well above the $1.72 billion projected when the project was announced last year. Construction is expected to be complete in 2029 instead of 2027, which means it will be 2030 before patients can be treated at the hospital.”

Dr. Stevenson’s health system leadership spans three decades. She is a health administration professor at UBC, former associate deputy minister of health, and former health authority senior executive with experience at Island Health, Fraser Health, and BC Cancer.

Lynn is an RN by profession and has a PhD with a research focus on organizational change, practice and leadership.

Dr. Stevenson has chaired or co-chaired numerous health-related advisory and advocacy committees, including the British Columbia Academic Health Council (2011-2014), the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (2016-2020) and Healthcare Excellence Canada (2019-2021).

She is currently a member of the Canadian College of Health Leaders Board and chairs the Health Employers Association of BC Board.