Fiona Dalton
Fiona Dalton became President and Chief Executive Officer of Providence Health Care on April 23, 2018.
She took over from Dianne Doyle, who retired after 12 years as CEO and 42 years with the organization.
Ms. Dalton brings 23 years of health care experience to Providence. Most recently, she was the CEO of University Hospital Southampton NHS
(National Health Service) Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom. This renowned academic health sciences centre has 10,000 employees and
an annual budget of over £680 million, or about $1.2 billion Cdn.
During her tenure there, Ms. Dalton’s accomplishments included:
• developing and launching a new values-based organizational vision;
• being nationally recognized for improving quality and safety;
• improving hospital performance and patient outcomes;
• enhancing research performance;
• leading successful staff health and well-being strategies;
• focusing on quality improvement, innovation and digital services; and
• delivering a successful capital program, improving and expanding facilities for patient care, research and education, with academic, commercial and charitable partners.
She holds a BA Honours in Human Sciences from Queen’s College, Oxford University. She received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Southampton in 2017.
She has served as the Chief Operating Officer and Interim CEO of the Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust; and Divisional Director, Responsible for Surgery, Cancer, Critical Care, Neurosciences, Theatres & Anaesthetics, at Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust.
Ms. Dalton’s experience, her emphasis on people, collaboration and organizational culture, her commitment to performance excellence, and her focus on staff/physician engagement and patient involvement will support Providence in its future challenges and transformative work as it continues to provide compassionate health care to all British Columbians.
Transcription of Presentation.
Mrs. Fiona Dalton was introduced by Raymond Greenwood
Many people have been curious about the new St. Paul’s Hospital, which has needed a rebuild since at least the 1970s. The project is on time and on budget. If all continues as planned, the first patients will all move into the new building in early 2027. This $2 billion investment to redesign St. Paul’s goes beyond the city of Vancouver. The new hospital will serve the whole province of BC. While St. Paul’s is a general hospital, it does specialize in some health areas like heart and lung health, mental illness, HIV/ AIDs, and renal health. They specialize in serving older populations and folks living in the Downtown Eastside. The new hospital will be located closer to the Downtown Eastside, sitting on the 18-acre Station Street site which will also house buildings for staff accommodations, an Indigenous welcome centre, biotech innovation labs, a hotel, and much more. The whole campus will be both a healthcare and economic hub. The designers really focused on ensuring that the LEED Gold Certified building is future-proof. The hospital is designed to be flexible and adapt to changing requirements over the decades and will be pandemic-friendly, earthquake-proof, and climate-resilient in the event of flooding or extreme weather.
Healthcare isn’t just about the physical hospital building though; it’s about the people. At St. Paul’s, the goal is to care for the whole person, including their spirit. As a Catholic organization, a large portion of the hospital’s ground floor is dedicated to a chap[1]el. There will also be multifaith spaces to serve anyone’s needs. The hospital and construction contractor have also been working very closely with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations to include Indigenous art around the building, a healing garden space, and a dedicated sacred space for Indigenous patients, staff, and relatives.
Part of their new design acknowledges that we can’t operate in siloes. Multiple things happen at the same time and affect one another. For example, in the past, there was a separate medical ward and psychiatry ward, but there were always folks in the psychiatry ward with medical issues and vice versa that the staff weren’t as trained to manage. The new hospital will have a combined unit for people experiencing both to ensure they receive the appropriate care while improving overall hospital safety.
Another big change will be a significant increase in the number of private rooms. The current hospital has almost none, and it’s the number one complaint Fiona hears from patients’ families. People aren’t used to sleeping in the same room as a stranger. Making every room private is an important shift for improving patients’ comfort levels and overall experience, especially since so many come from disruptive backgrounds. Each room also has its own washroom to help with infection control and a pull-out couch to accommodate family members overnight.
In the interest of improving the overall patient experience, the team is also leveraging technology and exploring some new bedside gadgets to help patients stay in touch with their loved ones and control room settings, order their meals, access entertainment, and get information about their care and medical condition on demand. Through this technology, patients will also be able to have appointments with their family doctors and specialists virtually.
Another piece of technology that St. Paul’s is exploring is an app for outpatient care. Clinic patients can easily track their doctor referrals, book appointments, and get reminders, similar to how you can check in and track your flight through an airline app now. Taking further inspiration from the world of air travel, they will also implement a clinical operations centre to serve as an air traffic control tower to the hospital to manage all of the site logistics around patient flow room assignments, surgical schedules and even room cleanings to keep everything running smoothly. St. Paul’s is also looking to launch a new program with the rebuild. The Centre for Healthy Aging is changing perspectives on the very natural process of aging. Similar to the Foundry, a successful youth program also initiated at St. Paul’s, this centre will help older adults enjoy a self-sufficient higher quality of life at home for as long as possible. Often, older people end up in the emergency department in crisis, when they’re at a point where they simply can’t cope anymore. At this point of crisis it’s really challenging to recover, whereas if the patient had come in 13 months earlier the hospital could have proactively put things in place and helped them to live and receive care in the comfort of their own home.
Another program the hospital is exploring to help patients stay at home longer is training patients and their families on doing hemodialysis at home. Many renal patients currently change their whole lives to move from rural areas with no dialysis machines to be near St. Paul’s. This alternative option saves time, is more convenient for patients, and is more accessible to everyone, including remote and rural communities.
At St. Paul’s, they know when they are at their best, they change the world. By very consciously taking all the parts that work along and leaving all the parts that don’t behind, they hope to influence the world of healthcare and see their ideas replicated across the globe.
Head to www.HelpStPauls.com to donate to support the Research Centre and hospital programs like the Centre for Healthy Aging.
Mrs. Fiona Dalton was thanked by Dr. Christopher Hunt who presented her with the customary donation for the hospital’s fund-raising campaign.