Lee Fairclough Starts as New President at St. Mary’s
Today St. Mary’s welcomes Lee Fairclough in her new role as President of St. Mary’s General Hospital. St. Mary’s thanks Interim President John Woods who has capably led the organization since July and will remain at St. Mary’s for several weeks to support Ms. Fairclough’s transition.
“I am eager to get to know staff, physicians and volunteers at St. Mary’s and look forward to leading an organization that is nationally recognized for quality, safety and compassionate patient care,” said Ms. Fairclough.
She recognized that the past six months have been extraordinary for St. Mary’s. Highlights include the roll out of a new Health Information System with Grand River Hospital, securing final approval for the construction of St. Mary’s Heart Rhythm program expansion and achieving accreditation with exemplary status from Accreditation Canada.
In addition to learning more about St. Mary’s over the first several months, Ms. Fairclough looks forward to collaborating with other healthcare organizations in Waterloo Region and area to achieve the best outcomes for patients. This will include being deeply involved in planning for an Ontario Health Team for the Kitchener area.
Ms. Fairclough said she particularly looks forward to working in the hospital again and being deeply immersed in the issues of how to best serve patients and families. She started her career as a radiation therapist delivering cancer care at Princess Margaret Hospital/University Health Network and went on to have a broad set of leadership experiences at the hospital and system level, provincially and nationally.
Since 2014 Ms. Fairclough worked as a Vice President at Health Quality Ontario, leading provincial efforts supporting quality improvement with teams across the health system. “It was inspiring to be exposed to many examples of how teams collaborated to understand quality of care and experience, and make improvements where needed. St. Mary’s has a strong reputation for this same commitment to quality and will continue to strive to be the safest and most effective hospital in Canada, characterized by innovation, compassion and respect.”
She said during her initial visits to St. Mary’s late in 2019 she felt the warmth and collegiality that is known as the St Mary’s way. “As I begin this journey I am grateful for the support of St. Mary’s amazing people, excellent Board of Trustees and Senior Leadership Team, and partners at St. Joseph’s Heath System, Grand River Hospital and the healthcare community in Waterloo Wellington and surrounding regions.”