The PHC-PASS Medical Staff Strategic Pillars represent medical staff in Providence Health Care's Strategic Plan. Physician leaders and medical staff advisors are paired with senior organizational leaders in Pillar Advisory Committees (PACs) and collaborate on activities that support our medical staff community and workplace.
Pillar activities are funded through the PHC Physicians and Surgeons Society Facility Engagement funding.
Exceptional Quality, Safety & Value
Quality Pillar Advisory Committee: Dr. Trina Montemurro (Consultant Lead), Dr. Janet Kow (PHC VP Sponsor) and Medical Staff Advisors Dr. Haley Merkeley, Dr. Shanta Chakrabarti, Dr. Keeva Lupton, Not pictured: Dr. Bonnie Law, Dr. Andrew Kestler, Dr. Nathaniel Winata
QUALITY PILLAR ACTIVITIES
Celebrating and sharing opportunities and learning for patient quality and safety.
- Celebrating Quality Improvement Showcase: Co-sponsor with Providence of the annual showcase of QI projects, with the 5th annual event held on May 21, 2025 with plans for 2026.
- Sourcing Quality Improvement resources: Sharing resources, funding opportunities available to medical staff. Includes promoting Physician Quality Improvement (PQI) opportunities.
- Connection Rounds: (formerly Schwartz Rounds) Support provider wellness and compassionate care. Watch for rounds all year round!
- Value-based Health Care: Continued awareness and education for medical staff.
Funded Medical Staff Projects: See previously funded and upcoming projects here.
Discover, Learn & Innovate for Impact
Learning Pillar Advisory Committee: Dr. Lik Hang Lee (Consultant Lead), Dr. Darryl Knight (PHC VP Sponsor), Brian Simmers (PHC VP Health Informatics; President, PHC Ventures) and Medical Staff Advisors: Dr. Ron Ree, Dr. Sam Wiseman, Dr. Jesse Greiner, Dr. Janny Chen Ke, Dr. Jonathan Dick. Additional members not pictured: Dr. Douglas Motomura, Dr. Charles Yu
LEARNING PILLAR ACTIVITIES
Connecting opportunities, support, and community for Medical Staff innovation
- Online innovation community for medical staff to share and discuss opportunities, innovation and ideas: Request an invitation to join from pass@providencehealth.bc.ca.
- Identifying barriers to advancing innovation through medical staff consultation.
- Collaboration with PHC to develop and advance Ideas: Forward and Innovarium 360° A front door for medical staff to engage in innovation, access support and guidance for a new ideas.
- Medical-Staff led initiatives and projects, including A Practical Roadmap for Innovating Physicians
Funded Medical Staff Projects: See previously funded and upcoming projects here.
Inspiring People & Teams
People Pillar Advisory Committee: Dr. Ana-Luiza Sayao (Consultant Lead), Becky Palmer (PHC VP Sponsor), Medical Staff Advisors: Dr. Lawrence Cheng, Dr. Shanta Chakrabarti, Dr. Joe Finkler, Dr. Debbie Rosenbaum, Dr. Vishal Varshney (Past Pillar Consultant Lead)
PEOPLE PILLAR ACTIVITIES
Supporting Medical Staff wellness, connections, and community
- The Kudos Project: An easy way for medical staff to recognize peers.
Wellness and connection events for medical staff:
- Challenges in Patient Encounters session, held in May 2025
- Retirement Planning Beyond the Numbers: March 2025 event (takeaways here)
- Wellness in Colour Medical Staff Art Exhibition
- "Seeds for the Soul" workshop held in June 2024 provided medical staff with an inspiring and hands on way to connect outside of work by planting seeds.
- "Making Stress Leave Less Stressful" This event focused on support for medical staff to take stress leave. See the event takeaways here.
- Medical Staff Wellness Strategy: Supporting Dr Dan Kalla to respond to the results of the first Medical Staff Workplace and Wellness survey conducted in 2024 and collaborate on a strategy and plans to address medical staff wellness and burnout.
Funded Medical Staff Projects: See previously funded and upcoming projects here.
Partner to Transform Health Care
Partnerships Pillar Advisory Committee(L to R): Dr. Grace Li (Consultant Lead), Deborah Mitchell (PHC VP Sponsor). Medical Staff Advisors: Dr. Lik Hang Lee, Dr. Ron Ree.
PARTNERSHIPS PILLAR ACTIVITIES
Coordinating clinical partnerships, connections, partners, and learning for patient care
- Division to Division Connections - Joint meetings between divisions/department members who share common patients — to enhance their work, interests, or goals, and enable more optimized and collaborative patient care.
- Funded Medical Staff Projects: See previously funded and upcoming projects here.
- Medical Staff Site Visits provide opportunities for Medical Staff to get behind the scenes of clinical and patient services.
- "Get to know the Care Coordination Centre" event in Fall, 2024 - A behind the scenes orientation of new high-tech centre for the new St. Paul's Hospital.
- A 2023 site orientation of Holy Family Hospital Long Term Care and Rehab services for medical staff whose patients interface with rehab and residential care services. See takeaways here.
- A 2022 Kílala Lelum community clinic site visit to give medical staff an opportunity to learn about the clinic's care model, and explore ways to improve patient experience and care transitions.
What is the Partnerships Pillar?
Strategic Pillars: Our Impact
Reflections from current and past Consultant Leads
"In these big decisions that affect our work, we need to be involved from inception. Through our pillar roles, we are seeing our involvement increase earlier and in the planning stages." - Dr. Grace Li, Partnerships Pillar
"Senior Leaders are accessible to us in a way that they were not in the past. They are very receptive to medical staff input." - Dr. Adrienne Melck, Quality Pillar
"The process is more transparent... We can reach out to senior leaders, and they get value when they know how to connect with a medical staff representative as well." - Dr. Amin Sajan, Learning Pillar
"We can be stewards for how the organization is meeting metrics laid out in strategic plan in relation to medical staff priorities." - Dr. Vishal Varshney, People Pillar
