London hospital touts new leadership team, including five outside hires
London Health Sciences Centre is touting its revamped leadership structure, a reimaging of the hospital’s top brass that includes five outside hires.
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London Health Sciences Centre is touting its revamped leadership structure, a reimaging of the hospital’s top brass that includes five outside hires.
More than a month after several of the appointments were announced in internal memos to staff, LHSC publicly revealed its new leadership structure in a statement Tuesday, an executive shake-up meant to “drive innovative, inclusive and compassionate patient-centered care.”
No one from LHSC was available to speak about the changes Tuesday afternoon, a hospital spokesperson said.
In its statement, the hospital said the executive restructuring will help it bolster its teaching hospital mandate, increase oversight across the organization and strengthen research ties with national and international partners.
LHSC said staff wellness and supporting regulated medical professionals at the hospital are also core goals of the new leadership team.
“The pandemic has created unique challenges for health-care systems across the country,” president and chief executive Jackie Schleifer Taylor said in the news release.
“As we focus on recovery and system transformation, we are building a disciplined and talented team that will leverage LHSC’s legacy of care and innovation to drive change.”
The restructuring includes two new president roles, one for University Hospital and another for Victoria Hospital, that will be filled by former LHSC chief clinical officer Cathy Vandersluis and Deborah Wiseman, an outside hire, respectively.
Four other new executives are joining LHSC from other organizations: system innovation and business development executive Tammy Quigley, chief financial officer Abhi Mukherjee, corporate health disciplines executive CJ Curran and clinical diagnostics executive John French, a joint appointment with St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
In a separate statement Tuesday, LHSC said it has added 436 staff to its ranks in the past year, including internationally trained nurses, as it responds to the post-emergency phase of the pandemic.
Tuesday’s public statement by LHSC comes after more than a year and a half of churn in its top ranks.
LHSC lost five executives in the first half of 2021, including former chief executive Paul Woods. Woods was fired without cause by LHSC’s board in January 2021 after it was revealed he had travelled to the U.S. to see family several times during the pandemic, when the provincial and federal governments were advising against all non-essential international travel.
Woods launched a $3.5-million wrongful termination suit against LHSC. As of late last month, the parties were in the process of setting a pretrial conference date, Woods’ lawyer Michael Wright said.
The five former executives, including its chief operating officer and general counsel, received approximately $1.5 million combined in salary and benefits in 2021 despite all departing by June.
Schleifer Taylor, former president of LHSC’s Children’s Hospital, who assumed the role of interim chief executive of LHSC after Woods departure, was named the permanent president and chief executive in November.
In June, LHSC parted ways with two vice-presidents, Glen Kearns and Carol Young-Ritchie, as part of its executive restructuring. Both were in high-profile roles during LHSC’s pandemic response.
At the time, LHSC said it was continuing to configure a smaller and more nimble executive team to guide the hospital through the recovery phase of the pandemic.
Timeline: LHSC executive restructuring
Jan. 5, 2021: LHSC confirms clinical programs vice-president Julie Trpkovski is no longer with the organization.
Jan. 11, 2021: Hospital board fires chief executive Paul Woods amid pandemic travel scandal. Jackie Schleifer Taylor, former president of Children’s Hospital, assumes role of LHSC’s interim chief executive.
June 6, 2021: General counsel Susan Nickle and chief operating officer Neil Johnson terminated.
June 2021: Chief financial officer Jaqueline Davison parts ways with LHSC. Interim chief operations officer and chief financial officer named.
November 2021: Schleifer Taylor named permanent president and chief executive of LHSC.
June 2022: LHSC confirms departure of chief clinical officer Carol Young-Ritchie and diagnostic services vice-president Glen Kearns.
June 30: LHSC announces appointments of corporate administration executive Brad Campbell, human resources and workplace wellness executive Julia Marchesan and capital redevelopment and environmental operations executive Dipesh Patel in internal memo to staff.
July 26: LHSC announces appointments of Victoria Hospital president Deborah Wiseman, Children’s Hospital president Nash Syed and University Hospital president Cathy Vandersluis in internal memos to staff. Appointments of outside hires Abhi Mukherjee, chief financial officer; CJ Curran, corporate health disciplines executive; and John French, clinical diagnostics executive; also announced internally.
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