New position for local doctor.
Former Olympic athlete eastern zone’s new medical executive director
SYDNEY — The importance of teamwork is not lost on Dr. Don Brien.
Not many people can say they were members of one Olympic team let alone three but the Nova Scotia Health Authority eastern zone’s new medical executive director sees his background as an elite athlete as a transferrable skill that should help in his latest career move.
An orthopedic surgeon, Brien was a member of Canada’s 1980, 1984 and 1988 Olympic teams for sprint canoe/kayak. Although he made the team in 1980, Canada decided not to compete in Moscow. But Brien did compete in 1984 in Los Angeles where he came ninth in K-4 1,000-metre men’s and in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, where he placed 11th in the K-2 1,000-metre men’s and 12th in the K-4 1,000-metre men’s events. He also captured a bronze medal in the 1985 world canoe sprint championship’s K-2 1000-metre event.
But medicine was always where he wanted to finish.
“I grew up in Dartmouth — I went to Dalhousie and even at a young age I think I have always wanted to go into medicine,” Brien, 61, told the Cape Breton Post on Wednesday.
He received his undergraduate degree at Dal and his medical degree before heading to British Columbia and then to the University of Calgary where he did his orthopedic surgery training. When he finished, he moved to Sydney and has been here ever since with his wife of 36 years, Robbie, and their two sons, now grown.
“I’ve been here for 22 years, doing orthopedic surgery and I was very impressed with the hospital — I think we have a really good service here. And I think over time I just felt I wanted to take on a different role.”
He’s not the only local orthopedic surgeon to move on to an administrative role. Dr. Kevin Orrell became the province’s deputy health and wellness minister in 2020. Despite the loss of two surgeons, the eastern zone continues to have a full complement of orthopedic surgeons with five, according to the NSHA.
Brien took over the role of medical executive director on May 1, at the height of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. As far as he’s concerned, there was no better time to step into the role.
“I remember waking up in the morning and looking at the numbers and it was like the biggest spike ever in Nova Scotia and in our zone. I think at first it was pretty intimidating but … I learned it was a perfect time to start the job because I got to see the whole health-care system functioning as a unit and the health-care system was under stress so all the players were involved. We were going to Zoom meetings with 70 or 80 people all over the province and every different department, every person was communicating and working together. All these different departments in all these different areas of the health-care system were working together and it was quite impressive to see that this is what the system looks like when it’s going full speed and I was quite happy with what I saw.”
He works closely with Madonna MacDonald, the vice president of operations for the eastern zone and Brett MacDougall, the zone’s executive director of health services.
And just like sports, working together as a team is vital to succeed, he adds.
“I’m just basically in a learning mode right now because there is a lot to learn but it’s really comforting to know that I have really good support all around me and you realize this is a team event.
“This is a big team that is working to provide the necessary health care that we need.”