UHN is an internationally recognized organization and is a leader in research, education and above all, transforming patient care. On May 22, UHN welcomed its new President and CEO, Dr. Kevin Smith. Having more than two decades of past leadership experience with the St. Joseph's Health System and Niagara Health System, Dr. Smith brings expertise to the UHN stage, which will assist him in working with the UHN community to advance care, research and education for all in partnership with Ontario’s hospitals.
In his first email message to all UHN staff, Dr. Smith asked each of us a favour: “I need your support, guidance and advice as I have much to learn from you about the way we can best care for patients; how we can best educate and mentor learners; how we can continue to advance knowledge through scholarly research and pragmatic innovation.” He emphasized the importance of this request and acknowledged his role by stating, “I will do my very best to ensure that you understand what we’re doing, why we’re doing it and how our actions support our patients, our clinicians, our educators, our scientists and our essential support staff. Questions and diverse opinions will be respected, valued and addressed.” Towards this endeavour, Dr. Smith recently launched his own Twitter account (@KevinSmithUHN) to receive feedback from across UHN. There you can also find photos of him riding the UHN shuttle, celebrating staff who have dedicated five to 50 years of their careers to UHN, and raving about the new renewable, cost-effective cooling system at Toronto General Hospital.
As Dr. Smith is about to mark his first month here at UHN, we look forward to a new era of leadership that will allow UHN to flourish.
Dr. Kevin Smith, about to take his first ride one UHN’s shuttle bus. The image is courtesy of @KevinSmithUHN on Twitter.