3 Canadians among Newsweek’s top hospital CEOs

NEW YORK – Newsweek magazine, which annually ranks the world’s best hospitals, has identified 25 of the planet’s top hospital CEOs – and three of them are in Canada. They are: Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg (pictured left), president and CEO of the West Central Montreal Health network, which includes the Jewish General Hospital; Barbara Collins (pictured centre), president and CEO, Humber River Health, in Toronto; and Dr. Kevin Smith (pictured right), president and CEO, University Health Network, Toronto.

Newsweek said that in recognition of the leadership that goes into advancing healthcare, the magazine is highlighting the CEOs behind some of the world’s most accomplished medical facilities.

While each of these executives have their own skill sets and stories, they have managed to lead their organizations to great success. Newsweek has spoken with a number of the CEOs featured below, and a few common themes recurred throughout our conversations: a concern for delivering the most impactful patient care, a curiosity about artificial intelligence and what it could mean for the future of medicine, and a real warmth when discussing the team members that they work alongside.

Cleveland Clinic’s CEO, Tom Mihaljevic, emphasized clear communication among hospital personnel and the benefits of the daily huddles his staff started during his tenure.

“We can tell you exactly how many patients we have served that day, how many surgeries we have performed, do we have any issues about our environment of care,” Mihaljevic told Newsweek. “Then, at the very end of that huddle, we remind ourselves about the people who have passed under our care …. We wanted to be absolutely certain that we do not lose sight of the humane aspect of our mission.”

That two-fold attention to both the processes and humanity of hospital care is what drives the success of many of these medical institutions. While the CEOs stand out for their acumen regarding healthcare management, they acknowledge that working among a capable team focused on bettering the lives of their patients is what makes these hospitals among the world’s best.

• In addition to being president and CEO of the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network of West-Central Montreal, Dr. Rosenberg is also a professor of Surgery and Medicine at McGill University. He was previously chief of surgical services and then executive director of the Jewish General Hospital.

Dr. Rosenberg received his MD, CM degree and completed specialty training in General Surgery from McGill and holds an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in experimental surgery. He received an MEng from University of Waterloo, with concentrations in Systems, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

After completing his surgical fellowship in transplantation from the University of Michigan, Dr. Rosenberg was named director of the Multi-Organ Transplant Program at Montreal General Hospital, inaugurating McGill’s Pancreas Transplant Program and leading the team that performed the first successful liver transplant at McGill. He has received several awards, including an appointment as Chercheur National of the Quebec Government.

He remains the only Canadian to have been awarded the prestigious American Surgical Association Foundation Fellowship. Dr. Rosenberg – author of Patients Matter Most: How Healthcare Is Becoming Personal Again – implemented the first provincial connected health innovation & research incubator (OROT) as part of his “Care Everywhere” vision.

Dr. Rosenberg has extensive experience as a clinician-scientist, educator, and consultant in value-based health systems and management of change.

• Barbara Collins was appointed the president and CEO of Humber River Health in July 2016. In her previous role as COO, she served as the senior executive lead for the hospital’s redevelopment project, and oversaw the design, construction and activation of the new site, North America’s first fully digital hospital, in October 2015. This groundbreaking approach to integrating technology across all hospital systems and workflows was shortly followed by the development and implementation of Humber River Health’s Command Centre in November 2017, a first in Canada and second in the world.

Barb is a Registered Nurse with an MBA from Queens University and has over 40 years of progressive leadership experience in all major clinical and support areas of acute care. She is passionate about high reliability and compassionate patient care.

• Dr. Kevin Smith is president & CEO of UHN, Canada’s largest academic health sciences centre and named one of the 10 best hospitals in the world by Newsweek. Dr. Smith has spent his career at the interface of the university and research hospital and is passionately committed to the mission of education, research and exemplary clinical care.

Dr. Smith is a professor, Institute for Medical Sciences, Department of Medicine, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), Rotman School of Management and at the De Groote School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University. He has served in many roles including past chair, Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario; chair, The Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Hospital Association and as a frequent advisor to governments and the private sector.

Dr. Smith has been the grateful recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver and Golden Jubilee Medals and was honoured to be made a Knight of St. Gregory by the Pope for his long-term contributions to healthcare.