Stewart out as Niagara Health CEO
Embattled executive fired as Niagara Health ends management agreement
Niagara’s local hospital removed Dr. Tom Stewart as its CEO Wednesday evening by suddenly ending its long-standing management agreement with St. Joseph’s Health System in Hamilton.
In a press release issued late Wednesday, the Niagara Health hospital system announced its board of directors voted to terminate the six-year-old deal “effectively immediately,” effectively firing Stewart who was contracted under that deal to be the CEO of both hospital systems.
The board, which gave no reason for the termination in the press release, has installed Niagara Health president Lynn Guerriero as interim CEO.
“The board of directors of Niagara Health would like to thank Dr. Tom Stewart for his valuable service to our system and the people of Niagara,” the release says.
The move by the hospital system comes after news reports revealed that Stewart, who had previously served as the Niagara Health chief of staff, had spent the holidays in the Dominican Republic while his hospital system and the provincial government were urging people to say home and abide by COVID-19 safety protocols. The federal government issued an advisory to Canadians in March when the pandemic began and hasn’t changed that advisory.
After the CBC first reported Stewart’s vacation Tuesday evening, St. Joseph’s issued a statement that said Stewart was on an “approved” vacation — although it did not say who approved the trip — from Dec. 18 to Jan. 5.
In that span, COVID-19 cases spiked in Niagara, hospitalizations rose to record levels and pandemic related deaths climbed sharply.
In the St. Joseph’s statement, Stewart apologized for the trip and urged Ontarians to stay at home and not travel to limit the spread of the potentially lethal virus. He also apologized to Niagara Health staff in an email sent out by Guerriero Wednesday morning.
However, Stewart has yet to answer questions about his vacation to what he described in the Niagara Health email as his “private home in the Dominican Republic,” or offer an explanation as to why he travelled during the worst period of the pandemic to date.
Shortly after news of his trip broke, Stewart resigned from his post as a member of the key provincial government pandemic advisory committees, including the “command table” which decides most of Ontario’s COVID-19 policies.
Calls from health-care unions, local politicians and healthcare workers for Stewart’s resignation as CEO from both hospital systems began when the news broke. Premier Doug Ford did not call for Stewart’s contracts to be terminated on Wednesday, but said the hospital board would have to make “hard decisions.”
For the last six years, Niagara Health has shared its CEO with St. Joseph’s as part of a deepening collaboration with the Hamilton hospital system. Part of the justification for the deal is that it would enhance joint initiatives and programs to provide better health care.