Remembering a Trusted Physician and Quality Improvement Champion
We are very sad to share the passing of Jeff Harries, who we had the honour of partnering with on many occasions over recent years.
Jeff was a trusted physician in the south Okanagan for more than 30 years, during which time he was a champion for quality improvement and using technology to improve patient safety and quality of care.
Jeff’s true calling and his biggest contribution to the residents of western Canada involved sharing the benefits of using medical therapies to treat Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). For the past decade he criss-crossed BC and Alberta, reaching thousands of people, including physician and clinician groups as well as First Nations communities, and delivering hundreds of presentations at health forums and conferences – including our Quality Forum. He continued this work until his disease ended his ability to do so.
If you’d like to learn more about Jeff and his mission to improve treatment for AUD, he shared his hopes for health care at Health Talks 2019. He also won our BC Quality Awards’ Everyday Champion category in 2020, which celebrates someone who saw a need for improvement and committed to action, leading by example and inspiring others.
Jeff’s work lives on through the Canadian Alcohol Use Disorder Society, which he co-founded last year.
