Dear Colleagues:
We are excited to announce that Dr. Melissa Skaugset, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine has been appointed as the Division Head of Pediatric Emergency Medicine as of January 1st, 2025.
Dr. Skaugset has been at BC Children’s Hospital since July 2021, coming to us from Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. At Mary Bridge, she held various leadership and service roles in the Emergency Department and wider hospital system. Her residency training in Pediatrics was followed by fellowships in Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since joining our division, she has established a reputation as someone who is always interested in learning and growing, both as a physician and on a personal level. She brings with her a breadth of experience from training and working in a variety of community and academic settings, where she held teaching and administrative roles in quality/safety, point-of-care ultrasound, and emergency department leadership.
Her long-term goals for the division include a sustained focus on health equity and decolonization of the Emergency Department. Dr. Skaugset feels hopeful for the future and shares PHSA’s value of “fearlessly doing the right thing,” believing that health justice and equity can only move forward in systems willing to support disruption and radical change. She is equally committed to fostering inter-divisional communication to enhance professional collaboration and patient experience. She looks forward to continuing the equity work championed by Dr. Meckler and continuing to grow the flourishing Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine.
We would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Garth Meckler for his exceptional leadership of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine from January 2013 to December 2024. Dr. Meckler led with compassion, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to collaboration, fostering strong relationships with other divisions and leaders.
Throughout his tenure, Dr. Meckler achieved numerous milestones. Some of his most notable accomplishments include:
• Divisional expansion from 34 to 50 physicians
• Recruitment and establishment of key leadership positions, including Medical Trauma Director, POCUS Director, Quality and Safety Lead, and EDI Lead
• Championing decolonization and anti-racism efforts within the ED, including close work with the C&W Indigenous Health Care Team, to advance these goals
• Developing and facilitating specialized courses in Pediatric Acute Care and Trauma
• Promoting outreach initiatives to support community engagement and healthcare access for children
• Provincial-level advocacy for emergency medicine and care for children in key organizational meetings and working groups
Over the last decade, the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine has transformed into a leading academic department. In the last 5 years, division members have secured competitive funding from agencies including the NIH, CIHR, and the Public Health Agency of Canada totalling more than $35 million, and are investigators on over 240 peer-reviewed publications. Research achievements facilitated by Dr. Meckler’s leadership include:
• Engagement with Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC), serving on the executive steering committee and supporting division members who led and contributed to PERC multi-centre studies
• Participation in global Pediatric Emergency Research Network-endorsed studies
• Joining large research networks, including the PEM Collaborative Research Committee and the Canadian ED Research Network
• Strengthening collaboration within the department, including supporting the Novel Education in Research Design course for Emergency Medicine and PEM residents
• Supporting divisional Research and Associate Research Director positions, and the functioning of the PEM Research Committee to oversee research conduct
• Facilitating integration and operationalization of research within clinical care in an ED, which sees approximately 45-50,000 patient visits per year
Dr. Meckler’s visionary leadership has left a lasting impact on our division and the broader healthcare community. We are deeply grateful for his contributions and dedication.
MORE:
https://pediatrics.med.ubc.ca/divisions-centres/emergency-medicine/
Dr. Melissa Skaugset
https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-skaugset-6a7740b8/?originalSubdomain=ca
Dr. Garth Meckler
https://www.bcchr.ca/gmeckler
Sincerely,
Drs. Sim Grewal, Melissa Skaugset and Steven Miller