In this installment of our series highlighting TELUS Health team members, meet Dr. Matthew Chow, Psychiatrist and Chief Mental Health Officer at TELUS Health. He provides clinical oversight, and contributes to the organization’s strategic thought leadership initiatives. His years of clinical expertise, and drive to innovate in the realm of mental health care is critical as TELUS Health pursues its mission of becoming the world’s most trusted wellbeing company in the world.
Interview with Dr. Matthew Chow
Q: How long have you been working for TELUS Health, Matt? What inspired you to join the organization?
A: I joined TELUS Health in February 2022 after a career in the public health care system
punctuated by an unforgettable year as president of Doctors of British Columbia (Canada) from 2020 to 2021. I was attracted by the opportunity to make a difference on a national and global scale for people’s health.
Q: What do you love most about your role with TELUS Health?
A: My favorite part is the variety in my work. In any given week I may be recording a podcast, listening to a pitch from a digital health startup, participating in team meetings with colleagues from around the world, or meeting with government and corporate leaders. I can say without exaggeration that I have done more, seen more, and met with more people in 12 months at TELUS Health than I did in the previous 3 years despite the senior roles I held previously.
Q: Your role sounds so engaging and diverse – now, how do you think the work you do positively impacts the lives of individuals across the world?
A: I help TELUS Health create, refine, and promote products, services, and solutions focused on mental health and wellbeing so that people around the world can live their healthiest lives. To do that, we’re looking to help build and sustain healthy workplaces by offering employers solutions that can help keep their teams healthy, happy and productive. As a doctor, I know what it's like to make a positive impact on individuals and families. My role at TELUS Health is to translate that impact into something that can benefit millions of people.
Q: It’s amazing that you’re able to use your experience as a physician in order to revolutionize how millions of people access care. How, specifically, do you believe you and your team are contributing to TELUS Health’s ultimate goal of creating healthier communities and workplaces?
A: My colleagues and I create healthier workplaces and communities through three main avenues: educating about the importance of mental health and wellbeing, offering competitive services and solutions that directly address health needs and influencing corporate and public policy to achieve better health outcomes.
Q: And finally, Matt, how do TELUS Health's values resonate with you and help support your personal health and wellbeing?
A: I am proud to see TELUS Health put team members’ health and work-life balance first by championing programs such as WorkStyles years before ‘work from home’ and ‘hybrid work’ were popularized. TELUS Health also offers very competitive mental health benefits to team members and their families — something that would have made a huge difference to me personally when I was a teen — and has a strong culture around giving back to communities. We work hard as a team and as individual team members, and there are certainly challenging days just as there are in any high-performing organization, but TELUS Health's values shine through and help us carry forward to be both competitive and driven by social purpose — a balance that few companies ever find.
To learn more about other members of the TELUS Health team, meet Paula Allen who leads TELUS Health’s Business and Client insights group, and Joli Rampertab, Care Navigator with TELUS Total Mental Health.