Tomorrow, June 1, will be the first day of retirement for Randy Penney, President and CEO of St. Francis Memorial Hospital (SFMH). He had held the position since 1998 and during that time he has received numerous accolades reflecting the esteem in which he is held by his peers. These included in 2012 the Ontario Hospital Association’s Small, Rural and Northern Healthcare Award for SFMH in recognition of innovative leadership in establishing partnerships to expand and improve health services in the Madawaska Valley.
For the five-year period from 2013 to 2018, I was a member of the SFMH Board and therefore had the privilege and pleasure of working with Randy and observing him as he steered us through the numerous minefields that crop up frequently in the life of a rural hospital. I quickly became a fan of his cool, calm and collected demeanour that was part of his crisis management approach.
Yet, before I took up my duties after having been appointed a Director, I remember looking through the orientation binder I had been given and noting with surprise that SFMH only had a part-time CEO. This is because Randy was also CEO of Renfrew Victoria Hospital (RVH) and therefore was working under a sharing agreement. I wondered, whilst recognizing the financial benefit, whether it was in our best interests not to have a full time CEO. I discussed this with the then CFO who reassured me that it was not a problem and that, on the contrary, SFMH was very fortunate to have at the helm someone with his experience and breadth of knowledge in all matters related to healthcare. It only took me one or two Board meetings to confirm for myself that such was the case.
I checked in with Randy a few days ago to find out what the future holds for him and to learn what he considers were some of the highpoints of his tenure at SFMH. I started by commiserating with him that the “roast” that had been scheduled by RVH to mark his retirement had been postponed because of the pandemic. His response was, “that there had been very few positives coming out of COVID, not being roasted publicly falls into that category!”
Concerning achievements at SFMH that he is particularly proud of, he mentioned:
- The expansion of outpatient services, especially initially the introduction of Mammography, Bone Density and expanded ultrasound services.
- After many years of hard work lobbying, the ability to open a six-station dialysis unit in our community of Barry’s Bay was a major achievement.
- The building of the Clinic and bringing primary care physicians on-site was a significant gain for our hospital. Prior to this MDs were trying to cover our emergency while off-site in their primary care offices. To have all of our MDs on-site, next door and available to respond to Emergency or Hospital requirements was a true game changer.
- Further integration of other primary care services on our “campus” including Assisted Living.
- The establishment of the first Rural Hospice in the Region and the unique model, funding agreement ensuring access to hospice, palliative services he says is truly wonderful.
- The introduction of the electronic health record, EPIC and formalization of all agreements with RVH, Ottawa Hospital and Ottawa Heart Institute.
He told me that “a very important file for me personally is the redevelopment of our Emergency Department. I have been working on this for many years and I will continue to lobby at the Ministry level and the political level to hopefully one day bring this to a reality.”
As for the future, Randy will continue to perform the valuable role of a surveyor with Accreditation Canada which he has done for the past thirty years. Stating, “On a personal level it’s wonderful to be finishing a career with absolutely no regrets,” he said he looks forward to spending more time with his wife and three children at their home on Hurds Lake and will indulge himself in his favourite past times of reading and woodworking.
I am sure I speak for all past and present members of the SFMH community, stakeholders and residents when I say that his contribution over the past 22 years has been immense and that he carries our best wishes for a long and healthy retirement.
