Eastern Health taps Sudbury administrator as new CEO

The troubled health authority at the centre of Newfoundland and Labrador's breast cancer inquiry has hired a new boss.

Vickie Kaminski will start as president and chief executive officer of Eastern Health on June 15, the authority and the Newfoundland and Labrador government announced Monday.

Kaminski resigned last week as the CEO of Sudbury Regional Hospital in Ontario, the Sudbury Star reported Monday, in order to take the Eastern Health post.

Kaminski becomes the first permanent chief executive officer of Eastern Health since July 2007, when former head George Tilley resigned under pressure from the Newfoundland and Labrador government.

Tilley had come under fire for how the authority managed hundreds of botched hormone receptor tests, as well as a separate issue involving flawed radiology reports on the Burin Peninsula. The authority manages hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and community health programs on the Avalon, Burin and Bonavista Peninsulas, and has about 12,000 employees.

Theappointment comes as Justice Margaret Cameron finishes a much-awaited investigation into how nearly 400 breast cancer patients were given the wrong results on hormone receptor tests, which are used to help guide the course of treatment.

Cameron heard how Eastern Health was formed from several boards amid an era of budget cuts, just as it learned that a St. John's lab had been making errors between 1997 and 2005.

In a statement, Health Minister Ross Wiseman said Kaminski "brings with her a wealth of knowledge, experience and a commitment to excellence in health care. Her leadership will assist in ensuring high-quality health and community services throughout the Eastern Region."

The Sudbury Star reported Monday that Kaminski told the Sudbury Regional Hospital's board of her plans at a "hastily convened" meeting last week.

"Vickie did a tremendous job during her tenure as our CEO and we are very sorry to see her go," Carol Hartman, who chairs the hospital's board of directors, told the newspaper.