Penny Ballem
Penny Janet Drury Ballem is a Canadian physician and public health consultant based in British Columbia. She is serving as interim director of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA).[1]
History
Ballem served as a deputy minister of health at the British Columbia Ministry of Health from 2001-2006, overseeing the creation of the PHSA.[1:1]
Ballem served as Manager for the City of Vancouver from 2008 to 2015.
Ballem was appointed chair of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority in January 2019.[2]
COVID-19
Ballem was the executive lead of B.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine program.[3] For this, she was paid $404,913.75 between January and October 2021, placing her among the top paid public officials in BC in 2021.[4] Ballem was contracted for $250-an-hour through her company, Pendru Consulting 354948 BC Ltd., for “analysis and planning” of the COVID vaccine project.
From 2023 into 2025, Ballem served as a special health care advisor to Premier David Eby.[5]
On March 31, 2025, Ballem was named interim Chief Executive Officer of the PHSA, tasked with reviewing agencies including the BC Cancer Agency, British Columbia Children's Hospital, British Columbia Women's Hospital, British Columbia Emergency Health Services, and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). She was granted an annual salary of nearly $400,000.[1:2]
External links
Shaw, R. (2025, April 1). NDP’s cost-savings plan for health care starts with $400K salary. The Orca. https://www.theorca.ca/commentary/rob-shaw-ndps-cost-savings-plan-for-health-care-starts-with-400k-salary-10458548 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Dr. Penny Ballem. (2020). Vancouver Coastal Health. http://archive.vn/2022.04.29-010036/http://www.vch.ca/about-us/leadership/board-of-directors/board-members/dr-penny-ballem ↩︎
Ministry of Health. (2021, March 30). Immunize BC, pharmacists move up vaccines for ages 55-65 on Lower Mainland | BC Gov News. Government of British Columbia. https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021HLTH0061-000595 ↩︎
Mackin, B. (2022, January 12). COVID Exclusive: $405,000 and counting for B.C. vaccine boss Ballem. TheBreaker. http://archive.vn/2022.04.29-004605/https://thebreaker.news/news/ballem-bucks-continued/ ↩︎
Shaw, R. (2025, April 2). No pinching pennies in B.C. health care as Ballem bills taxpayers $1.8M. Business in Vancouver. https://www.biv.com/news/commentary/rob-shaw-no-pinching-pennies-in-bc-health-care-as-ballem-bills-taxpayers-18m-10464701 ↩︎