Minetaro Naruki-van Velzen

Minetaro Naruki-van Velzen (Min) is the Director of Operations for the Virtual Health Program at Fraser Health Authority. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing and scaling digital health services across the organization. He focuses particularly on areas that enhance patient access and streamline healthcare delivery. His responsibilities include managing regional virtual care programs, driving digital transformation initiatives, and ensuring that new technological solutions align with Fraser Health’s mission to provide patient-centered care. With a clinical and research background, Min’s leadership has been instrumental in Fraser Health’s ongoing commitment to digital transformation.

Fraser Health Authority has increasingly emphasized digital transformation to adapt to the rapidly changing needs in healthcare. As Director of Operations for the Virtual Health Program, Min was tasked with enhancing operations and exploring new digital strategies. This digital shift was complicated by Fraser Health’s existing structures and the need to scale up virtual healthcare offerings. Min also faced the ongoing challenge of balancing a commitment to quality patient care with the efficiencies digital tools could offer. This required careful orchestration of operations, technology, and patient engagement.

To navigate these challenges, Min enrolled in the Digital Transformation Leadership (DTL) program at SFU. He sought a structured approach to digital transformation and change management. The program provided clear pathways and frameworks that helped break down digital transformation into manageable steps. This allowed Min and his team to explore various routes to operational change. Through DTL’s “Pathways Model,” he gained new perspectives on potential transformation strategies. These were valuable as he faced barriers in implementing incremental changes. This approach empowered him to question the traditional structures and processes within Fraser Health, opening up innovative ideas such as the possibility of establishing a “virtual hospital.”

Min particularly valued the diversity of participants in the DTL program. By collaborating with peers from different sectors—such as banking and resources—he gained insights into shared challenges and saw healthcare’s commonalities with other fields. “In healthcare, we’re somewhat in a bubble,” he noted. This exposure to non-healthcare perspectives inspired him to approach digital transformation with a fresh mindset. Additionally, DTL’s multi-faculty approach, with eight professors each offering unique insights and expertise, enriched his learning experience. Min found this diversity in instruction both refreshing and beneficial for navigating complex concepts like digital transformation.

Min and his team’s efforts to consolidate call centers at Fraser Health serve as a testament to the program’s impact. During the DTL program, Min developed the value proposition and a clear stepwise roadmap to tackle this major project. The first step, a system-wide change from on-premise to cloud-based solutions, took a year to complete, and a platform for the consolidation of the first 2 call centers, with more in the works, was created.  This project has laid a solid foundation for  Fraser Health to centralize services and improve patient access. It also paved the way for a “digital front door” initiative that will enable patients to self-navigate healthcare services, with plans to integrate AI chatbots for guidance and pre-booking features for non-urgent visits.

Through these initiatives and by having several of his teammates attend a DTL program offering, Min has not only advanced Fraser Health’s digital capabilities but also fostered a “common language” among his team and within the broader organization. The DTL program has helped establish a culture where healthcare leaders and clinicians alike can explore how technology can support—not replace—the mission of quality patient care. Min has since encouraged others within Fraser Health to attend the Digital Transformation Leadership program, believing it essential for cultivating a shared mindset of innovation and a readiness to challenge traditional models.

In sum, Minetaro Naruki-van Velzen’s journey through SFU’s DTL program reflects the ongoing transformation in healthcare. In these transformations, digital tools are being harnessed to improve care accessibility and efficiency while keeping the patient at the center. His success story illustrates how a structured approach to digital leadership can empower healthcare professionals to pioneer innovative solutions and overcome structural barriers, creating lasting impact within their organizations.