With less than a year before his retirement Health Sciences North president and CEO Dr. Denis Roy says legacy is not on his mind.
“I will tell you very frankly, I don't care about legacy,” Roy told Sudbury.com. “Other people usually mention that, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as this continues to move forward I will be happy.”
While his legacy is not a big concern, Roy said he is proud of many the things he achieved during his seven years in his leadership role at the hospital.
He said the name change from the Sudbury Regional Hospital to Health Science North in 2011 reflects the direction the institution has moved toward with Roy at the helm.
“When one examines the name properly one will see that that's where the hospital has been going over the last seven to eight years,” he said.
During his time as president and CEO, the hospital has focused more on research and education, through closer collaborations with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and Laurentian.
In October 2014 Health Sciences North cracked the list of Canada's top 40 research hospitals.
And the newly named Health Sciences North Research Institute has been a big priority for Roy.
After the departure of Dr. Francisco Diaz-Mitoma he became CEO of the research institute.
According to Nicole Everest, the chair of Health Sciences North's board of directors, Roy's successor will also lead the research institute.
“It's critical that we have a leader that understands both,” she said about the dual role of providing hospital services for the community, and conducting medical research.
Everest said Roy's retirement did not come as a surprise, since he had shared his plans to conclude his career in the near future.
She said the board of directors has already started the process of finding his replacement, and will hire a firm to conduct a global search for candidates.
Roy said he does not have much say in who his replacement will be, but he has made a couple of requests for the board.
He said it's important the new president and CEO sit on the Patient and Family Advisory Council, which he helped start as a way to get valuable feedback from patients and their families.
Roy said the council has helped the hospital improve, and has even steered management away from a couple of ideas that could have been detrimental for patients.
Roy said his second request is that his replacement be open to change.
“The rate of change will be one of the biggest challenges,” he said.
That change includes how hospitals make the best use of new technologies, techniques and treatments, but it also includes the changing role hospitals play in the community, and the ongoing move to more care in the community.
“Hospitals will need to break their walls,” Roy said. “Unless the ground is well prepared the growing pains will be very hard.”
After his retirement – scheduled for June 2017 – Roy said he plans to return to his home province of Quebec, and will settle down near Mont Tremblant.
