Community-minded physician and leader leaves lasting mark

Growing up on the coast, Dr. Crofts had a love for health sciences and biology. He completed a zoology degree at UBC Vancouver before deciding, in his final year, to apply to UBC medical school.

Upon graduation, he ventured east to Dalhousie University in Halifax for a one-year rotating internship—an experience he describes as invaluable—then back to B.C. for two years of family practice.

Early in his career, he gravitated toward surgical assisting, eventually choosing to specialize in urology. He completed his residency at the University of Manitoba where he earned top surgical resident honours.

In 1995, he learned of an opportunity at PRH. It proved to be the right fit not only for him, but also for his wife, Dr. Shannon Walker, an intensive care unit (ICU) and respirology specialist. She became the first female internal medicine physician and first respirologist at PRH.

The couple moved to Penticton with their newborn, Megan, and welcomed a second child, John, two years later. They both built their own demanding full-time practices while raising a young family. “Let’s just say it was pretty intense,” recalls Dr. Crofts.

A few years into his career, the busy physician and dad suddenly found himself as the lone urologist at PRH. By then, Dr. Walker was sharing her practice with another respirologist to balance family life and work.

For 13 years, Dr. Crofts was the hospital’s sole urologist, taking breaks only for vacations.

In 2014, a new urologist, Dr. Winston Teo, joined PRH, giving Dr. Crofts time to explore new endeavours and challenges outside of his urology practice.

“I wanted to see what else I could do to contribute to the hospital and my community,” he explains.

In 2019, he completed the UBC Sauder Physician Leadership Program, and was appointed chief of staff May 1 of the same year—the same day the David E. Kampe Tower opened. He helped oversee the transfer of patients into the new building, marking the beginning of a transformative period for PRH.

As chief of staff, he became the medical partner to the hospital’s executive director. He was responsible for privileging, credentialling, standards of care, recruitment, retention and long-term planning.

Day-to-day operations also fell under his purview: coordinating medical care in the hospital, providing medical opinions to clinical operations, engaging medical staff, and investigating and responding to patient complaints.

He worked closely with department heads across the hospital and advocated tirelessly for Penticton. He attended regional meetings to ensure PRH was at the forefront of conversations so that resources needed to supply health services, whether human, capital or infrastructure, would be there.

“In advocating for the hospital, I’m really advocating for the community, and trying to make the hospital as good as it can be. It’s why I wanted to do this role,” he shares. 

Not even a year into his role, Dr. Crofts would face the biggest challenge of his administrative career: navigating the COVID-19 pandemic required extensive process changes to adapt to the pandemic's known and unknown factors.

“I am very proud of how all our doctors, nurses and hospital staff worked through those difficult times,” he says.

In 2021, he stepped away from clinical urology. “I had enough experience in urology,” he admits. “I had done everything, seen everything, and it was starting to feel a bit repetitive. It turns out I was enjoying administration more than I expected.” Urologist Dr. Joey Roy took over Dr. Crofts’s practice in 2022, joining Dr. Teo at PRH.

Two years later, in 2023, PRH marked a major milestone, becoming the first IH hospital to achieve the World Health Organization’s Baby-Friendly designation. He provided medical leadership for the initiative and credits clinical operations for working tirelessly for the designation.

Over his career, Dr. Crofts has witnessed profound shifts in health care. The Okanagan’s rapid growth, evolving physician expectations around work-life balance, and increasing human resource pressures have reshaped how hospitals operate.

Within IH, he saw key roles change, including the CEO, board chair, VPs and executive medical directors.

He speaks candidly about the challenges: emergency department closures due to staffing shortages, the need for more residency positions and specialists, and the difficulty of recruiting when communities across the province are competing for the same candidates.

Throughout his tenure, he has leaned on his values of honesty, integrity and hard work to guide him through his job's many challenges.

“A thoughtful leader can also learn from many people through daily conversations, meetings and interactions,” he says.

He’s cautiously optimistic about the future. “Health human resources remain the biggest challenge in medicine. Our models of care must evolve to match available human resources and increasing patient demand and complexity,” he shares.

Despite system capacity challenges, he credits the medical staff at PRH for continually delivering a high quality of care.

In September 2025, he was contemplating whether he would renew his administrative contract when, during a cycling holiday in Europe, one of his closest friends and riding partners passed away unexpectedly.

“We had been riding for two weeks at that point. One morning he didn’t come down for breakfast,” he reflects. “That tragedy clarified things for me. On the plane home, I thought, I’m 64 and I need to fully grasp the time that I have left. My daughter was also expecting her third baby.

I’ve done what I can do as chief of staff, and now’s a good time to transition out.”

But he’s not stepping away from medicine entirely. Surgical assisting remains a meaningful bridge between full-time practice and full retirement.

He’ll no doubt benefit from the online scheduling system he put in place that allows surgeons and family doctors experienced in surgery to fill after-hours shifts, and emergency evening and weekend calls.

One of his final responsibilities before retiring was helping recruit his successors. He encouraged Dr. Andrew Ashley, an Oliver-based family physician who graduated from IH’s NAVIG8 Emerging Leadership Program, to apply for the South Okanagan senior medical director role.

Dr. Zoë Ayling and Dr. Michelle Scheepers also stepped forward, proposing to co-lead the PRH chief of staff position so they could balance administrative duties with their clinical work.

During Dr. Crofts’s tenure, one of his major priorities was to secure funding and advance plans to modernize the women’s and children’s ward, an effort he has now passed on to the next leadership team.

It’s a campaign he remains deeply passionate about and committed to: he donated all proceeds from his recent retirement dinner to the South Okanagan Similkameen Foundation in support of PRH’s Women and Children’s Health Services Department.

“I’m grateful strong leaders have stepped forward,” he says. “It gives me peace of mind as I transition into retirement.”

In 2025, the PRH Medical Staff Association recognized Dr. Crofts with the Outstanding Service in Medicine award for his decades of clinical care, administrative leadership, and contributions to the community.

“Penticton has been good to us,” he says. “Giving back through leadership was my way of contributing to the community that raised our family.”

Outside of the hospital, Dr. Crofts is enjoying being a grandfather, gardening and cycling. Affectionately known as the “Ace of Pace,” he can often be seen on his road bike around Summerland and the South Okanagan.

His story is one of dedication, adaptability and selfless service. And while he may be stepping back from leadership, his contributions to PRH and the community will continue to shape the future of health care in Penticton for years to come.

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