RRU honours health leader shaping island communities

Learn more about RRU’s Alumni Changemaker Achievement Awards. 

James Hanson’s road to success was paved with failure – or, at least, one significant failure. 

From a young age, Hanson wanted to be a police officer. He took hundreds of steps to prepare himself for that dream job, including a loss prevention job at a department store, a job at a halfway house and even picked up and moved from Victoria to Edmonton and back again in hopes of catching on with various police departments. 

Hanson never fully realized that dream, but he discovered his true calling in the process. While working as a corrections officer, he moonlighted as a protection services officer in a local hospital, which opened his eyes to the possibilities in health care.  

Now, more than 20 years and many career progressions later, he’s vice-president of Community Clinical Operations and Support Programs for Island Health. Hanson oversees thousands of employees and hundreds of millions of dollars in budget while building hospitals and other health facilities, including new projects like overdose prevention sites and long-term care centers. 

For his work as a leader in Vancouver Island health care, he is being recognized by Royal Roads University this spring with an Alumni Changemaker Achievement Award. 

Hanson, who earned a Master of Business Administration in Executive Management in 2015, will be honoured with the Community Changemaker Award. The award recognizes an alum who is leading systemic community change. 

Finding a calling in health leadership 

Hanson said he is grateful for the skills and knowledge he gained while working towards a career in law enforcement, but his supervisor at Island Health was the one who taught him to invest in himself.  

“Every problem that came along, he would just throw in my direction… and I just loved it so much,” he said about his supervisor, who was vice-president of Non-Clinical Services for Island Health at the time.  

Hanson’s introduction to RRU was completing the Graduate Certificate in Project Management, which he calls a “mini-MBA” and notes, “it was by far the best education I had up to that point.” 

He took the “full-size” MBA next and likens the first few weeks of the program to being “thrown into a blender.” But the fast pace and diverse cohort, including executives from a variety of industries, prepared him well for his future leadership roles, he explains.  

In the “blender,” he learned, “there’s always another way” 

He learned to leverage colleagues’ strengths and support their growth. He discovered when it came to problem-solving, “there’s always another way, because someone on the team [in the MBA program] always had another solution.” 

“So, it translates very well,” says Hanson. “The team-based approach, and the way [the program] throws everybody in that blender... is highly valuable, especially if you have ambitions of being in a high-stress, high-stakes, senior leadership position.” 

That describes his current position, in which he oversees all aspects of community-based services, including Island Health primary care, community health services, mental health and substance use, and long-term care as well as general support services, such as food services, housekeeping, facilities and design, and construction and protection services. 

Celebrating collective impact 

“I think my job as a VP, besides the political pieces and the relationships with municipal leaders and partners, and Indigenous communities, is trying to put together the most diverse, efficient team,” he says. “No matter where you’re situated, it’s always helpful to have a lot of different thinking on the team, different skill sets, different approaches to how you get past challenges.” 

While he was chosen to receive the Community Changemaker Award for his leadership, Hanson shares he has difficulty accepting it as an individual honour.  

“I want to share this with my executive directors, who do the real work, and with their teams,” he says. “Of course, it’s an honour... but, really, it’s not my award – It’s a team accomplishment.” 

About the awards 

The Alumni Changemaker Achievement Awards showcase the diverse talents and accomplishments of RRU’s alumni network as they advance the university’s vision to inspire people with the courage to transform the world.  

A celebration for the award-winners will take place as part of Alumni Weekend May 1–2, 2026, which also includes a keynote address by Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier, alongside inspiring talks, workshops, and tours.