One St. Joseph’s General Hospital-related announcement last week turns a page. Another is a step toward another chapter, if not a new book.
After 21 years as St. Joe’s president and CEO, Michael Pontus will retire in July, board chair Ron Philip announced Thursday.
As Philip noted, St. Joseph’s has evolved considerably since 1989 when its ownership changed from the Sisters of St. Joseph’s of Toronto to the Diocese of Victoria, which recruited Pontus.
After a 35-year health-care career, Pontus has earned his retirement.
This could be a blessing to him after a trying year in which staff and stakeholders flayed management for not consulting before springing plans for a major restructuring of patient care.
About the same time, the Comox hospital joined only two per cent of health services organizations that do not meet Accreditation Canada standards. A common theme in the report was lack of consultation.
Pontus’ departure, and his willingness to remain for six months, should allow for a replacement to be found and an orderly transition.
The St. Joe’s board — no doubt with Vancouver Island Healthy Authority input — should find a qualified person who listens before major decisions are made.
The new CEO will oversee a crucial transition period as St. Joe’s continues to be the health-care hub for the region while preparing to make way for a new hospital.
The board overseeing the North Island Hospitals Project unveiled the consultant team Friday that will develop the business case for the construction of new hospitals in the Comox Valley and Campbell River.
Fourteen consultants were chosen from 63 that applied to help make a business case to build hospitals in Campbell River and at a still-unknown location in the Comox Valley.
That business case will be presented to the B.C. government this year.
We might hear more today at a Vancouver Island Health Authority meeting in the Comox Valley. editor@comoxvalleyrecord.com