Health Leadership Shakeup
281 words / 1.5 min read
Yesterday, there was a major shakeup in the top positions in health care. Through the government-appointed Boards, the CEOs of Shared Health and WRHA were dismissed, and replaced with interim CEOs. An interim CEO was also appointed for Southern Health.
WHAT’S CHANGED: The following changes were made yesterday:
Shared Health CEO Lanette Siragusa has left, and Dr. Chris Christodoulou has been appointed interim CEO. Dr. Christodoulou is the specialty lead and department head for anesthesia.
WRHA CEO Mike Nadir departs, with Jane Curtis appointed as Interim CEO. Jane moves from her role as longtime CEO of Southern Health.
In Southern Health, Dana Human was appointed as interim CEO with Ms. Curtis’ move to WRHA. Dana was previously the Regional Lead — Community and Continuing Care.
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN: The government’s public explanation for the change is a response to independent audits, also released yesterday, that showed all regions except for Southern Health were regularly overspending their budget.
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said “if the disease in our health-care system is a culture of dysfunction, then the symptom of that disease is fiscal mismanagement.” They pointed to their promise to improve the culture in health care and redirect resources to the front lines.
OUR TAKE: There is no question the culture in health care has to improve. Our Annual Survey last year found physicians have unacceptably high levels of burnout and distress and concerns about the culture in health care, but we also found these concerns existed in every single region and service delivery organization. In fact, neither of the two organizations with CEO terminations were ones we received a very high volume of physician calls about a “toxic” leadership culture.
| Organization | Distress | Burnout | Mistreatment by Leaders* |
|---|---|---|---|
| IERHA | 57% | 49% | 19% |
| Northern | 59% | 46% | 28% |
| PMH | 68% | 51% | 35% |
| Southern | 53% | 42% | 13% |
| Winnipeg | 53% | 47% | 20% |
| Shared Health | 58% | 44% | 19% |
| CancerCare Manitoba | 72% | 51% | 36% |
| Provincial Average | 54% | 46% | 21% |
Annual Physician Survey Underway: You should have received a link to complete your 2025 annual physician survey earlier this week. This will help to update our understanding of burnout, distress, and workplace culture and engagement, to continue advocating for the support physicians need to deliver exceptional patient care.