After seven years leading the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) and 39 years in health care, Lori Marshall is calling it quits.
Marshall, president and CEO of CKHA, announced her retirement recently, and will step down this summer.
Deb Crawford, chair of the hospital board, said she will be “very, very” missed.
“She has always been an inspiring leader who has always been dedicated to our community, our community’s health and to the staff at the hospital,” Crawford said. “She has inspired innovation and she has come through very tough times. When things get tough, you really do see how a person can manage situations and problem solve. Lori has shone.”
If Marshall were the captain of a Great Lakes freighter, it would be safe to say she skillfully navigated the good ship CKHA to avoid dangerous shoals through a November gale. Or two.
Firstly, she joined the CKHA as boss in 2017, selected when Rob Devitt, a provincially appointed supervisor, was overhauling the CKHA leadership and its hospital boards.
The infighting of the boards and questionable operational practices by some of the top brass led to the province stepping in. Staff morale was low, and finances were in short supply.
Marshall credited staff and physicians for leading the way out of that low point.
“As challenging as those days were, there was an incredible team here who offered high-quality care who were very easy to work with,” she said. “There are two key things I think about when I think about that experience: There never was a question about the quality of care that was delivered, or the quality of individuals – the staff, the physicians and the volunteers. What was easy in those days was to work alongside such wonderful people who wanted to make changes and make improvements.”
As the health alliance navigated its way to calmer waters, another storm blew in. The pandemic.
“It was definitely something we all experienced together,” she said. “I’ve often said there is nowhere else I would rather have been through the pandemic. I believe really strongly that we saved lives here.”
Through it all, Marshall has been a champion of operating CKHA in transparency to the media and, by extension, the public.
“Transparency is something that I often equate with accountability. It is something that I believe is well ingrained in our organization,” she said. “For people to come and receive care from the hospital, they need to trust the hospital.”
Marshall said she’ll miss being with the CKHA.
“Serving as CEO of CKHA has truly been the honour of my career. This is a community I love; this is a hospital that I love,” she said. “Everyone who works, practises and volunteers within this organization, and everyone who needs us, has been so important to the community.”
She said she and her family will continue to live in Chatham-Kent.
In terms of finding a replacement, Crawford said they will search internally and externally,
“Finding someone to fill Lori’s shoes will be a big job for the board. We’ve tried to identify an executive search agency,” she said. “We’re hoping to be able to have the process completed by the time that Lori is retiring.”
Marshall joined the alliance from the Erie St. Clair Community Care Access Centre where she served as CEO.
A pharmacist by trade, she had previous hospital leadership experience having been CEO at Nipigon District Memorial Hospital, as well as serving as vice-president at Oshawa General Hospital and Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
