Interior Health CEO Rob Halpenny to resign

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – After more than five years as chief executive officer, Dr. Robert Halpenny is resigning from the Interior Health Authority.

The announcement that Halpenny will resign from his position, effective this fall, came today, June 9.

“Over the five and a half years that Dr. Halpenny has served as CEO, he has driven transformative change across the organization with a primary focus on quality improvement in all activities of the health authority,” Erwin Malzer, chair of the health authority board of directors, said in a press release. “There is not a facility, program or service within Interior Health that does not have his legacy stamped on it, a legacy that will serve us well as we continue our organization’s quality journey into the future.”

Halpenny began working for the heath authority in 2007 as senior medical director. He succeeded former CEO Murray Ramsden in 2010 when the board named him to fill the position. His previously worked for the Provincial Health Authority as executive director of cardiac services and vice-president of medicine for the Fraser Health Authority.

“It has been an absolute privilege to serve our residents in the Central and Southern Interior, and to support and lead the more than 20,000 staff and physicians who provide care to our patients, clients, and residents every day,” Halpenny said. “While I will miss the role and especially the people I interacted with each day, it is time for me to pursue other opportunities and for a new CEO to lead Interior Health and our committed, passionate health professionals forward.”

According to Malzer, he will lead the search committee seeking a replacement for Halpenny and will hire an executive recruiting firm to aid in the search.

The Interior Health Authority provides health care services for 750,000 people in the Central and Southern Interior and is governed by a provincial-government appointed board of directors.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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2 responses

  1. Hello? Yes, pension based on his last five years income, sweet. Too many top paid eggheads in this crazy IHA, I SAY GO BACK TO THE OLD SYSTEM, where the dollars went to hospitals, doctors, nurses and our medical instead of wages to top twits.

  2. Wonder what his paycheque and pension looks like…

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John McDonald

John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca