Province prepares for smooth transition of Health PEI leadership
Today, Minister of Health and Wellness Mark McLane, in consultation with the Health PEI Board of Directors, announced the next steps in preparation for smooth transition in leadership at Health PEI.
Dr. Michael Gardam, current Chief Executive Officer for Health PEI, gave notice in July 2023 that he would be resigning his position effective March 31, 2024. To ensure a smooth transition of leadership, Minister McLane and Chair of the Board of Directors Diane Griffin have appointed Corinne Rowswell as Acting CEO effective January 1, 2024 until a permanent CEO is appointed. Rowswell is currently Health PEI’s Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Gardam has agreed to continue to work with Health PEI until March 29, 2024 in an advisory role to aid in transition.
“Work is underway to complete an extensive search for Health PEI’s next Chief Executive Officer. To ensure continuity of leadership and to allow Health PEI and the Department of Health and Wellness to continue to make progress on increasing access to care and growing our health human resource team, we have agreed that an Acting CEO will provide stability beginning the end of the year to ensure a seamless transition in the coming months. I want to thank Dr. Gardam for his dedication and tireless work in the role of CEO during his time in PEI.”
- Health and Wellness Minister Mark McLane
An executive search firm, Odgers Berndtson, has been engaged to lead the search for the next CEO of Health PEI. Meetings to collect input from key stakeholders are underway. A survey has been shared today with all Health PEI to gather insights on what qualities staff are looking for in a CEO.
“The Board of Directors take seriously the important task of recommending to the government the next CEO of Health PEI,” said Diane Griffin.
“Building on the important work led by Dr. Gardam, Health PEI is very well positioned to bring on the right kind of leader necessary to bring the best care possible to Island residents.”
The permanent CEO position will be advertised later this month and candidates will be selected by the end of the year, with interviews in early 2024.
Media contacts:
Samantha Hughes
Senior Communications Officer
Health and Wellness
shughes@gov.pe.ca
Everton McLean
Chief Communications Officer
Health PEI
emclean@gov.pe.ca
Backgrounder:
Corinne Rowswell Biography
Corinne Rowswell has been Chief Operating Officer for Health PEI since May 2021.
Rowswell is a registered nurse with over 35 years of health care experience. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and a Master’s in Public Administration. She has worked as a front-line nurse in acute care, home care, palliative care and public health in Nova Scotia, PEI, Quebec and Ontario. Throughout her career she has worked with patients, families, health care providers and community programs towards safe and supportive transitions in care, particularly from acute care settings to home based care.
Rowswell credits working with people and their families, particularly at their most vulnerable time of life, as fundamentally shaping how she practiced nursing in a collaborative inter- disciplinary team and working towards patient-centred care.
In 2018, Rowswell transitioned to working with the broader Health and Wellness team, leading key strategic initiatives and played a leadership role in the COVID-19 response before returning to operations with Health PEI in 2021.