Dr. Tom Cull
Dr. Cull has been a physician in the Department of Anaesthesiology at Vernon Jubilee Hospital (VJH) since March 2011 and the Head of the Department of Anaesthesiology since October 2015.
Dr. Cull received his Bachelor of Physical Education at the University of Calgary in 1994 and subsequently went on to be a fitness instructor and personal trainer coaching adult athletes. In 2005, he received his Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Calgary, before completing his residency in Calgary in 2010 and moving to Vernon in 2011.
During his tenure as Department Head, Dr. Cull has been at the forefront of supporting the expansion of surgical services at Vernon Jubilee Hospital and he has been a strong advocate for increasing access to surgical services for North Okanagan patients, in conjunction with the Department of Surgery. Dr. Cull is a physician champion for the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation campaign ‘Surgical Care for Life’, as a key speaker on the campaign video and at various events to raise funds for the fifth operating room at VJH.
As part of the surgical expansion, Dr. Cull led the recruitment committee to bring additional anaesthesiologists to VJH to support service expansion. In this process he supported the identification, visits and successful recruitment of three anaesthesiologists to support the surgical services expansion, ensuring the quality of care that we deliver, all of which have made an outstanding contribution to his department, VJH and the community.
Most recently, Dr. Cull has been a key leader in the VJH response to COVID-19. He dedicated many hours to developing the HOT (COVID) and COLD (Non-COVID) pathways for patients in the operating room, working collaboratively with VJH Administration and infection control to ensure staff and patient safety.
In addition to supporting the COVID-19 response in the operating rooms, and knowing that COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that may result in the emergency presentation of patients in acute respiratory distress, Dr. Cull led his team to support other critical areas at VJH including the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit, by helping to support case simulations for rapid intubation of patients and developing an 24/7 on-call anaesthesiologist to support the site, gaining him further respect and trust of his colleagues.