Major changes in leadership at LHSC hospitals

LONDON, Ont. – The London Health Sciences Centre, London’s largest employer, is undergoing a leadership restructuring. Part of the restructuring includes creating two new president positions, one each for Victoria and University hospitals.

Over the past few weeks, LHSC internally announced a number of appointments, including: Nash Syed, LHSC’s interim vice-president of clinical programs, who has now taken the helm of Children’s Hospital; EVP and interim chief clinical officer Cathy Vandersluis, now president of University Hospital; and Deborah Wiseman, current VP and CNE at Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, will become president of Victoria Hospital in the fall.

“While we are one team unified around our common mission, University, Victoria and Children’s hospitals each have a unique identity with individual strengths and opportunities,” the hospital stated. “Each president will work collaboratively with staff, executive and physician leaders to strengthen our mission of care, teaching and research.”

While the Victoria and University presidents are new positions, the role at Children’s Hospital is not. Dr. Jackie Schleifer Taylor (pictured) served as its president before becoming LHSC president and chief executive after Paul Woods was fired in January 2021 amid revelations he had travelled internationally during the pandemic.

“The pandemic has created unique challenges for healthcare systems across the country,” said Dr. Schleifer Taylor. “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. Our team will collaborate across the system to meet the healthcare needs of those in our region.”

Four other executives are joining LHSC from other organizations: Tammy Quigley, system innovation and business development executive; Abhi Mukherjee, corporate services executive/CFO; CJ Curran, corporate health disciplines executive; and John French, clinical diagnostics executive – a joint appointment with St. Joseph’s Health Care London.

In an internal memo to staff on June 30, LHSC also announced the appointment of corporate administration executive Brad Campbell, human resources and workplace wellness executive Julia Marchesan and capital redevelopment and environmental operations executive Dipesh Patel. The corporate hospital administrator will oversee the presidents of Children’s, Victoria and University hospitals.

The June 30 appointments came on the heels of the departure of two high-profile executives at the hospital, vice-president and chief clinical officer Carol Young-Ritchie and Glen Kearns, diagnostic services vice-president and chief information officer.

At the time, LHSC said it was aggressively restructuring its top ranks to be smaller, tighter and more responsive to challenges coming out of the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The healthcare system is “in a state of evolution” a hospital spokesperson said, adding that “our organizational structure of the executive team will be comparable to other research-intensive acute tertiary and quaternary care teaching hospitals like Hamilton Health Sciences Centre.”