Dr. Rueben Devlin announces retirement from Humber

TORONTO – Dr. Rueben Devlin (pictured) has submitted his retirement notice as president & CEO of Humber River Hospital to the chair of the hospital’s board of directors, Paul D. Allison. In accepting, Mr. Allison paid tribute to Dr. Devlin’s long and distinguished career at the hospital, issuing the following statement to the hospital team:

On behalf of the board of directors of Humber River Hospital, I received, and have accepted, the retirement notice of Dr. Rueben Devlin as president & CEO of Humber River Hospital. Dr. Devlin has held his position here since August of 1999.

Under Dr. Devlin’s leadership, this hospital has undergone an amazing transformation. From three individual legacy sites, challenged by physical plant and quality of care issues, today visitors from around the world come to Humber, looking to improve their own healthcare systems by emulating what’s going on here. That doesn’t happen by chance. It happened, in large measure, thanks to the vision and drive of the CEO the board had the foresight to hire almost seventeen years ago.

The results speak for themselves. Our last Accreditation Award – Exemplary Standing – is the highest possible Award that can be obtained under the Accreditation Canada quality of care survey process for Canadian hospitals. A thriving and growing medical education program, affiliated with both the University of Toronto and Queen’s University medical schools. And, of course, North America’s first fully digital hospital.

On behalf of everyone at Humber River Hospital, I extend our heartfelt thanks to Rueben for his exemplary service on behalf of our hospital, our patients and our community. He will leave behind an impressive, and historic, legacy of public service.

The board has struck a Search Committee to lead the recruitment process to find a new president & CEO. I am delighted that Dr. Devlin will continue in the role until a successor is named and in place. This is expected to occur by late June of 2016.

Humber River Hospital remains firmly committed to being a hospital of distinction, where all aspects of patient care exemplify our values of compassion, professionalism and respect.

In his retirement announcement, Dr. Devlin thanked the Humber team for their support over the years, noting that “when I first came to Humber River Hospital, I never thought that my time here would stretch to almost seventeen years, but that will be the case.

Since those first days I have seen the Humber River team evolve as our Hospital grew in stature. Many events stand out. Through every challenge, the team I have been proud to lead not only survived – they thrived. I know of no other hospital team as committed and as capable as ours when there is a challenge ahead.

I have spent a significant part of my professional life here at Humber, and have come to know and highly respect the work that this team does every day on behalf of our patients and our community. I thank them for that, and the board for their support of my career at Humber River Hospital.”

About Humber River Hospital

Humber River Hospital is one of Canada’s largest acute care hospitals, serving a catchment area of more than 850,000 people in the northwest Greater Toronto Area. North America’s first fully digital hospital, it is located at Keele Street and Highway 401 in northwest Toronto. With a capacity of 656 acute inpatient beds, including 48 critical care beds, the hospital has 3,400 staff, approximately 600 physicians with privileges, and over 500 volunteers. The hospital has formal affiliations with the University of Toronto and Queen’s University Medical Schools.