Panel Co-Chair: Health System Transformation to Meet the Challenge of Chronic Diseases (2008.01)
Penny Ballem, University of British Columbia
Dr. Penny Ballem served as Deputy Minister of Health of British Columbia from 2001 to 2007. At the end of her tenure, she was the longest serving Deputy Minister of Health in the country. Over the last 22 years, Dr. Ballem has been a health administrator, an advisor to health policy-makers, both provincially and nationally, and a practicing academic hematologist. She was previously the Vice-President of the Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of British Columbia, having responsibility for the largest maternity hospital in the country, and held a position of Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Previously, she held the position of Deputy Medical Director of the Canadian Red Cross, Blood Transfusion Service in British Columbia.
Dr. Ballem received her medical degree in 1978, and her specialist fellowship in 1983, both from UBC. She is highly sought after as a speaker on health systems, health policy, and women’s health. She is known in British Columbia for her work in developing innovative interdisciplinary health services, especially in the area of women’s health and has received awards for her work in education, research and advocacy in women’s health.