St. Mary’s president retiring in June
At age 58 and with the hospital in good shape, Don Shilton says it’s time
KITCHENER — St. Mary’s General Hospital is looking for a new leader after president Don Shilton announced his plans to retire.
Shilton will leave the post at the end of June after 13 years at St. Mary’s, including eight years as president.
The news follows the announcement last week that Grand River Hospital’s Malcolm Maxwell will retire at the end of September, after being in the role of president and chief executive officer at the hospital since 2007.
The hospitals work closely together and share medical staff.
Shilton said both hospital boards value that partnership and will look for people who will continue collaborating and make it stronger to further bolster the quality care.
Both Kitchener hospitals have consistently ranked highly in recent years on a national measure of quality and safety.
“It’s very important to them. They’ve seen the value,” Shilton said.
Shilton started at St. Mary’s as the assistant vice-president of the cardiac program and then served as vice-president of patient services before taking on the role of hospital president.
He’s most proud of the hospital’s focus on improving quality during his tenure. The hospital board adopted a vision to be the safest and most effective hospital in Canada early in his presidency, and Shilton led the effort to empower staff to propose and implement thousands of improvements in quality and safety.
“Our staff have really embraced that,” he said.
St. Mary’s has become a “beacon” for other health-care organizations and several times a year the hospital hosts delegations to share their approach. They’ve come from not just Ontario, but across Canada, the United States and even the United Kingdom.
“There’s lots who respect the work we do and have come to us to learn how they can do it too,” Shilton said.
Shilton’s wife retired a year ago and the couple welcomed their first grandchild a few months ago, prompting his thoughts of retirement.
“The time is right for me personally,” said Shilton, 58. “I think the hospital is in great shape.”
After taking the summer off, he plans on doing consulting work for hospital executives on implementing the improvement process in their organizations.
But he also has big plans to enjoy his retirement — starting with writing a list of everything he’d like to do. “I’m up to 87,” Shilton said. The list so far — he wants to get to 100 — includes learning how to play piano and running with the bulls in Pamplona.
“Just interesting things I’ve always wanted to do,” Shilton said. “This is a bit of a road map for me for the years ahead.”