The departure of Jackie Schleifer Taylor from London Health Sciences Centre should kickstart a restructuring and reduction in senior administration at the hospital, a health advocate says.
The departure of Jackie Schleifer Taylor from London Health Sciences Centre should kickstart a restructuring and reduction in senior administration at the hospital, a health advocate says.
Schleifer Taylor, chief executive since 2021 who has been on a leave of absence since 2023, is leaving her job after she and the board of directors agreed she should not continue in the role, the hospital announced Tuesday.
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LHSC must use her departure as an opportunity to invest in front-line patient care and staffing, and thin bloated senior administration ranks, said Peter Bergmanis, co-chairperson of the London Health Coalition.
“It was inevitable. It seemed scandal followed her from the moment she took office,” Bergmanis said of Schleifer Taylor’s departure.
“We hope the hospital will bring more staffing resources now to LHSC. We are in need of full-time nurses.”
David Musyj, chief executive of Windsor Regional Hospital, was named acting chief executive of LHSC on May 17 because Schleifer Taylor was on leave.
“It would show good faith if he listens to staff and starts reversing some bad decisions” made under the previous administration, Bergmanis said.
“We don’t need another layer of executives and VPs. We need a flattened administration responsive to staffing needs. That will improve patient care.”
Schleifer Taylor made $803,584 in salary and taxable benefits in 2023, an increase of about $270,000 from her 2021 pay, making her the highest paid hospital executive outside Toronto.
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LHSC Tuesday declined to reveal what she will be paid in severance now that she is gone.
Musyj, who came to LHSC with a reputation of openness in discussing how health-care tax dollars are spent, also declined comment Tuesday.
“She will likely get her contract paid out in full,” Bergmanis said.
Only on the job two years before she took a leave, Schleifer Taylor’s tenure was a stormy one. She left with the hospital facing a $76-million deficit, while it has 22 senior executives including three presidents on the payroll. It paid $1.5 million to five departed executives in 2021, and has signalled its intent to cancel a formal collaboration agreement with St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
LHSC has also been under investigation by Ontario’s Ministry of Health since November 2023 after it planned to spend about $500,000 on three trips by senior executives and staff.
A total of 22 executives travelled to Portugal and the United Arab Emirates last fall. The hospital cancelled a planned trip in November by 11 senior staff to Australia two days before they were supposed to depart after The London Free Press reported details of the first two trips.
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Matthew Wilson, chairperson of the LHSC board, announced Schleifer Taylor’s departure, effective Monday.
“I am writing to let you know that the board of directors and Dr. Jackie Schleifer Taylor have mutually agreed that (her) . . . employment as president and CEO of London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has ended,” read the message.
Schleifer Taylor succeeded Paul Woods as chief executive after he was fired in 2021. Woods sued LHSC for $3.5 million over his dismissal and later reached a settlement with the hospital.
“The LHSC board seems to be fire happy. . . . Maybe it is time to make some changes there as the CEO seems to be the scapegoat for the board’s bad and fiscally irresponsible spending decisions,” said Valerie Roberts-Francis, past president of COPE Local 468 that represents LHSC office and administrative staff.
A physiotherapist by education, Schleifer Taylor also held positions as chief clinical officer and president of the Children’s Hospital at LHSC, before taking over as chief executive.
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“I would love for them to take the cash and put it into front-line staffing, that is what we need,” said Core LaRose, president of Local 468.
“It is management-heavy at the hospital.”
The Ontario Health Ministry declined comment on Schleifer Taylor’s departure, but reaffirmed its support for Musyj.
“David Musyj has been a leader in connecting people to high-quality care for decades, and we are confident in his ability to bring those same skills to London Health Sciences Centre,” spokesperson Hannah Jensen said in a statement.
LHSC’s budget from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, was about $1.5 billion.
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