Rinfret to leave as MUHC head
Executive director’s term ends Sept. 2 after difficult 4-year run
Normand Rinfret, who steered the McGill University Health Centre through the most tumultuous period in its history as executive director, will be stepping down from the health network on Sept. 2, the Montreal Gazette has learned.
Rinfret’s departure comes amid a senior management shakeup at the MUHC stemming from Health Minister Gaétan Barrette’s administrative reforms to the health system. But before Rinfret leaves, he will announce that he has approved a $40-million deficit for the MUHC for the fiscal year of 2015-16.
“It’s time to pass on the torch,” Rinfret said when asked by a reporter last Thursday to confirm his departure in September.
Rinfret, who had spent most of his career at the MUHC in various managerial roles, was appointed interim executive director in December 2011 to replace Arthur Porter, who had resigned abruptly that month after the board of directors raised concerns that he was pursuing too many outside business interests.
(Porter was later accused of conspiring to accept $22.5 million in bribes to award the $1.3-billion MUHC superhospital construction contract to engineering firm SNCLavalin, and he died in Panama on June 30, 2015, as he was contesting extradition to Quebec to face those charges.)
Rinfret faced multiple challenges when he was confirmed in September 2012 to a four-year term as head of the MUHC. Provincial police were still investigating Porter and other former MUHC executives as Rinfret assumed control of the six-hospital network with a spiralling deficit. Rinfret was ordered by the government repeatedly to cut tens of millions of dollars from the MUHC’s operating budget even as he and other senior managers planned a major move to the superhospital at the Glen site in NotreDame-de-Grâce.
And after the superhospital opened on April 26, 2015, Rinfret had to contend with thousands of glitches with the new facilities — from faulty electrical wiring in the operating rooms to sewage bubbling up out of the floor drains in the birthing centre.
Rinfret, 64, said he looks forward to waking up in the morning and not having to face a new crisis at the MUHC.
When a reporter suggested he looked serene, Rinfret responded: “Serene? I’m ecstatic!”
THE PORTER LEGACY
Rinfret’s term as MUHC head was not without its share of controversy. Rinfret was Porter’s secondin-command in 2011 when Porter decided to lease a luxury Bentley under his MUHC contract in May of that year. Although Rinfret said he raised objections with Porter about the lease and demanded that Porter pay back a nearly $59,000 down payment on the Bentley, he acknowledged to the Montreal Gazette that he did not inform the board at the time about the lease. Rinfret said in 2014 that it was not his responsibility, but rather the board’s, to oversee Porter.
Rinfret was also saddled with a number of money-losing realestate deals involving the MUHC — deals that Porter negotiated and for which Porter never sought or obtained the required authorization from the government.
Last September, Rinfret extricated the MUHC from a land-lease deal with developer Vincent Chiara at a loss to taxpayers of $27 million. Chiara said he also lost a considerable amount of money on the deal after the provincial government killed an MUHC plan to build a complex of outpatient clinics at 1750 Cedar Ave.
Rinfret also faced scrutiny over the fallout from another Porter deal: the $40-million purchase of an office building at 5100 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W. Government auditors in 2015 found that the MUHC used $5.3 million in public funds for patient care to cover the deficits on that property. Those deficits spanned nearly a decade — from 2006 to 2015 (including Rinfret’s term as MUHC head).
In July 2014, Barrette cancelled the remainder of a $600,000 contract the MUHC had signed with a Montreal PR firm that counselled Rinfret, among other tasks, despite the fact the MUHC already has an in-house public-relations department. Less than a year later, Rinfret’s salary was raised by 10 per cent to almost $290,000 under Barrette’s administrative reform, despite the fact that most public-sector employees had to accept a wage freeze that year.
MORE MANAGERIAL CHANGES
Rinfret, a certified human resources professional who started his career at Dawson and Vanier colleges, said he’s proud of his accomplishments at the MUHC. He noted that delegations from around the world visit the MUHC to learn more about the Glen site, and said he’s grateful to have worked with so many talented people at the hospital network.
The MUHC’s shaky finances have largely been brought under control during Rinfret’s tenure. But Rinfret said he intends to declare at the MUHC’s annual general meeting on June 14 that he has approved a $40-million deficit for the MUHC to take into account increased clinical volumes and other factors.
He conceded, however, that Barrette is not happy with the MUHC deficit.
Rinfret’s imminent departure comes amid a number of senior management changes at the MUHC. On Monday, Rinfret announced that he was promoting Richard Fahey, director of public affairs, to the new role of director of human resources, communications and legal affairs. That position was created under Barrette’s administrative reform.
He also announced that Joanne Brodeur, director of human resources, will step down officially on Sept. 14, as she has “expressed a desire to take her career in a new direction.”
As part of Barrette’s reform, the MUHC will be posting for the newly created position of assistant president and assistant executive director. The Montreal Gazette has learned that Martine Alfonso, associate director-general of the Montreal Children’s Hospital, is the leading candidate for that job.
It’s possible, Rinfret said, that he might stay on after Sept. 2 until the provincial government appoints his successor. Two names already circulating are Guy Rouleau, associate director-general of the MUHC’s neurological mission, who obtained a PhD in genetics from Harvard University; and Ewa Sidorowicz, associate director-general of medical affairs and professional services. Sidorowicz is a specialist in internal medicine, and has earned a reputation as a hard-working manager who commands respect throughout the organization.
Ultimately, Barrette will approve Rinfret’s successor after the MUHC board submits a list of candidates to the government.
Rinfret said he plans to resume teaching part time at McGill and might consider doing some consulting work after he leaves the MUHC.