British Columbia Health Authorities

Roles and Responsibilities of Health Authorities Overview

B.C.'s health governance structure consists of six health authorities - a Provincial Health Services Authority and five geographic health authorities:

• Northern Health
• Interior Health
• Vancouver Island Health Authority
• Vancouver Coastal Health
• Fraser Health

Within these five regional health authorities are 16 health service delivery areas, with boundaries that reflect the province's geography, as well as patient and physician referral patterns.

Roles and Responsibilities

Governors of the health authorities are primarily responsible for:

• identifying population health needs;
• planning appropriate programs and services;
• ensuring programs and services are properly funded and managed; and
• meeting performance objectives.

Additionally, the Provincial Health Services Authority is responsible for:

• working with the five health authorities to plan and coordinate the delivery of provincial programs and highly specialized services, such as transplants and cardiac care; and
• governing and managing the organizations that provide health services on a province-wide basis:
  • B.C. Cancer Agency
  • B.C. Centre for Disease Control
  • B.C. Children's Hospital & Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children
  • B.C. Provincial Renal Agency
  • B.C. Transplant Society
  • B.C. Women's Hospital & Health Centre
  • Forensic Psychiatric Services
  • P.H.S.A. Cardiac Services
  • Riverview Hospital

The Ministry of Health is responsible for:  

• establishing and articulating clear expectations and target outcomes for health authority performance;
• monitoring and evaluating health authority performance against those expectations; and,
• reporting to the public.

Together the Ministry of Health, Provincial Health Services Authority, and the five geographic health authorities share responsibility for ensuring appropriate health outcomes are achieved province-wide.