THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre announced it has hired a new president and CEO. Jean Bartkowiak (pictured) will take over the position effective Jan. 25, 2016.

Bartkowiak was most recently the interim president and CEO at the Mattawa Hospital and Algonquin Nursing Home. He said he was in semi-retirement when he was encouraged to look at the position in Thunder Bay.

“I did an interim position and I went back home. And, I was enjoying myself but you know, after a while, my wife is still working and I missed the action of being in the hospital.”

Bartkowiak spent eight years as President and CEO at the Bruyère Continuing Care centre in Ottawa, which specialized in geriatric and palliative care. He also spent three years as the CEO at the Centre Hospitalier des Vallées de l’Outaouais, where he worked on improving patient flow, and reducing the number of ALC patients.

Bartkowiak said he hopes to bring that expertise to the role in Thunder Bay. “So, there seemed to be a fit. And you know, these jobs don’t open every day. There are only so many CEOs. This is one of the 25 most important facilities in Ontario.”

Bartkowiak said he will move to the city when he starts his new position. He said his wife will move to the city in November, after she retires from her current job in the Ottawa area.

Bartkowiak will also head up the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute.