Dr. Ballem is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She has had a 35-year career as a health leader and academic clinician in British Columbia. She served as the B.C. deputy minister of health from 2001-06. She also served as the city manager for the City of Vancouver from 2008-15.
She has extensive board experience, having served on public sector, non-profit and private sector boards, most recently serving as board chair for Vancouver Coastal Health (January 2019 - March 2025). She has received significant public recognition for her work in medicine and public service, including the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for Public Service, the 2012 Wallace Wilson Award for leadership, the Marion Powell Award from Women’s College Hospital for leadership in Women’s Health, the Cannell Award from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada for her contributions to leadership in reproductive health and others. She advises governments across Canada on health policy, health systems and health human resources.
Dr. Leanne Heppell joined PHSA in July 2021 from her position with Providence Health Care as chief operating officer acute care & chief of professional practice & nursing in April 2015. Prior to this role, Leanne was the vice president, patient safety and innovation; and chief of professional practice and nursing.
Leanne brings to her role over 20 years of senior leadership experience, including with Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health and the BC Ambulance Service. She is a registered nurse with a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Victoria. Leanne graduated from UBC as a clinical nurse specialist in the masters in nursing program, and completed a masters in leadership from Royal Roads University in 2003. She is also an academic supervisor of leadership studies at Royal Roads University. Leanne is a values leader with a focus on putting patients and families first. Leanne completed a doctorate of business administration in 2016.
Dr. Paris-Ann Ingledew is the interim executive vice-president and chief medical officer at BC Cancer. She works across the organization and the provincial health system to support safe, high-quality, compassionate cancer care and improved outcomes for patients and families at every stage of their journey.
A radiation oncologist since 2007, Dr. Ingledew has served in a multitude of leadership roles ranging from physician engagement and patient advocacy to clinical service delivery. She has worked at three of BC Cancer’s six regional centres and was the department head, radiation oncology at BC Cancer – Vancouver. Committed to amplifying the voices of the health care team, she is past president of BC Cancer’s Medical Dental Staff Association and a contributing member of BC Cancer’s Medical Advisory Committee and PHSA’s Health Authority Medical Advisory.
Dr. Ingledew is a clinical professor in the department of surgery at the University of British Columbia and an accomplished educator, researcher and mentor. She has master of health professions education and numerous awards, publications and grants related to digital patient education and medical learner training and recruitment. She chairs the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons specialty committee for radiation oncology and oversees residency training in Canada. She is the creator and chief editor of a widely used international oncology education website.
Christine Massey provides leadership to the BC Centre for Disease Control and supports efforts to work in collaboration with partners across PHSA and the health-care system to advance the health and wellbeing of communities in ways that are meaningful and impactful, as well as culturally safe, anti-racist and equitable.
Prior to joining PHSA, Christine held senior roles in the B.C. government, most recently as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions. She has a long record of dedicated public service, working with the Ministries of Children and Family Development, Advanced Education and Health and leading initiatives including the regulation of private post-secondary institutions, the Seniors’ Action Plan as well as a number of legislative initiatives. Her experience implementing complex policy and programs has led to an appreciation of the intersection of the social determinants of health and public health policy, planning and initiatives.
From 1995 to 2009, Christine worked in the post-secondary sector. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa and a Master’s degree from Simon Fraser University.
Kris Nielsen is accountable for programs supporting the people of PHSA, including workplace and employee health services; people experience and workplace wellness; human resource services and labour relations; diversity, equity and inclusion; talent solutions; workforce strategies and systems transformation; and Sanya’k̓ula, the Indigenous recruitment and experience team. Under Kris’s leadership, the People and Culture portfolio strives to provide trusted, quality services to PHSA’s specialized teams and create an equitable, anti-racist and culturally safe health system where everyone thrives.
Kris has held diverse leadership roles in health care over the past 20 years, including specific experiences in primary and community care, business development, languages services, digital health, finance and human resources. Prior to rejoining PHSA, Kris held progressively senior roles at Island Health to advance their electronic health record strategy, transform workforce scheduling and business supports, and develop and implement a muti-year health human resources (HHR) sustainability strategy including leadership of BC’s HHR Strategy. He has also worked in various branches of the BC Ministry of Health, was part of HealthLinkBC’s redevelopment and worked in Ontario at a downtown Community Health Centre and St. Michael’s Hospital.
Kris is passionate about transformation in health care and lifelong learning. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in Medical Anthropology from the University of Toronto and University College London (UK), respectively, as well as an Advanced Human Resources certificate from Queen’s University and certification in change management from PROSCI.
Dr. Natasha Prodan-Bhalla is responsible for providing strategic leadership to nursing and allied health professionals across PHSA, for leading the development of a quality framework that includes patient engagement and experience, the PHSA policy office, accreditation, and ethics and spiritual care.
Prior to this role, Natasha was the collaborative practice leader for nurse practitioners with PHSA and still works as a nurse practitioner at BC Women's Hospital + Health Centre one day a week in the Heart Program for Women and the Access Clinic. Natasha completed her doctorate in nursing practice from the University of Colorado, holds a master of nursing, adult nurse practitioner degree from the University of Toronto, and a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Western Ontario. Natasha also holds a post masters family nurse practitioner certificate from the University of Massachusetts, is a North American menopause practitioner, and holds a cardiovascular nursing certification from the Canadian Nursing Association.
Natasha is a fellow of both the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Canadian Academy of Nursing. She is an adjunct professor in the Schools of Nursing at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria. She was a founding board member of the Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC and is the current co-chair of the National Principle Nurses Advisors Task Force. Separate from her role at PHSA, Natasha serves in an advisory capacity as the provincial chief nursing officer with the B.C. Ministry of Health.
Zulie Sachedina is responsible for overseeing the legal, risk, privacy, patient care quality, and technology development offices at PHSA.
Zulie has devoted more than 30 years to public service as a leader, lawyer and human rights advocate. She acquired her masters in health administration and her law degree from the University of Toronto and her LL.M in Global Health Law and Governance from Georgetown Law Center in Washington, DC and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. She is a Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
As Corporate Secretary, Zulie supports the Board of Directors of PHSA, the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission and the BC Emergency Health Services Commission in fulfilling their governance responsibilities.
Zulie is an active community volunteer and recently completed a six-year term as a Governor of the Law Foundation of British Columbia, an organization with the legislative mandate to fund access to justice initiatives, support law reform and public legal education. As the former Chair of the Ismaili International Conciliation and Arbitration Board, she led this global dispute resolution organization, which provides mediation services in 20 jurisdictions across the world.
Dr. Sean Virani is responsible for PHSA medical affairs, physician compensation and engagement. He also leads quality and safety for medical staff, including physicians and nurse practitioners, infection prevention and control, the BC Medical Quality Initiative, and has oversight for PHSA’s Health Authority Medical Advisory Committee.
Dr. Virani is a respected physician and a key opinion leader for heart failure in Canada, bringing more than two decades of medical experience to the role. He also serves as head of the division of cardiology for Providence Health Care (PHC) and physician program director with the Heart Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital.
Dr. Virani previously served as the provincial medical director for Cardiac Services BC, a past-president of the Canadian Heart Failure Society as well as associate professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is co-chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Heart Failure Guidelines Panel and co-chair of B.C.’s Provincial Advisory Panel on Cardiac Health. He also serves as medical director for HeartLife Foundation.
He completed his internal medicine and cardiology training at UBC before embarking on a sub-specialization in heart failure and cardiac transplantation at Stanford University. Dr. Virani also has a masters degree in public health from Columbia University with a focus on health-care management.
