Provincial Health Services Authority

Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) is a publicly funded health service provider in the province of British Columbia. PHSA is unique in Canada as the only health authority having a province-wide mandate for specialized health services, although within British Columbia the First Nations Health Authority is also non-regional and highly dispersed. The five other health authorities in the province have regional jurisdiction. Services are provided either directly through PHSA agencies or through funding or collaboration with regional health authorities.

Provincial Health Services Authority

PHSA serves the entire province
Formation	2001
Type	British Columbia Health Authority
CEO	David Byres
Budget	c. $5,028,839,000 in 2023-2024
Staff	c. 22,000
Website	www.phsa.ca

PHSA operates and manages a number of programs and services:

• BC Cancer
• BC Centre for Disease Control
• BC Children's Hospital & Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children
• BC Emergency Health Services (with programs BC Ambulance Service and the BC Patient Transfer Network)
• Health Emergency Management BC
• BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services
• BC Renal
• BC Transplant
• BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre
• Cardiac Services BC

The PHSA concentrates on doing three things to meet its responsibilities in health care:

• Provide leadership and management of selected agencies and organizations providing province-wide health care services;
• Ensure health care is delivered by overseeing performance agreements, expectations and funding allocations for selected provincial health care programs and services; and,
• Province-wide coordination of programs, services and support systems required by all health authorities and/or the Ministry of Health.

Management and employees

David Byres has been president and CEO since February 2021, when Benoit Morin stepped down following a review into allegations of misspending.^[1] Morin had taken the role in February 2020 after the retirement of his predecessor, Carl Roy, who served as the executive leader of PHSA from January 2014 – February 2020.^[2] The organization’s first president and CEO, Lynda Cranston, resigned after a controversial wage increase for 118 senior managers during a province-wide wage freeze for the public health sector.^[3]

In October 2013 was recognized with a national top employer honour.^[4] In 2015, the Vancouver Sun reported that the five highest-paid public sector employees in British Columbia's health sector were physicians affiliated with the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). This reflects PHSA's role in delivering province-wide specialized health services, which often involve complex care requiring highly trained medical professionals.^[5]