Sask. Health Authority holds first board meeting post-Livingstone depature

The Saskatchewan Health Authority Board met for the first time under interim CEO Andrew Will on Wednesday, following the departure of Scott Livingstone.

"Given the critical service that the SHA, there is probably never an ideal time for a transition of this nature to occur," said SHA Board Chairperson Arlene Wiks. "However given Andrew's significant experience and the fact that he already serves on the SHA's executive leadership team we believe the transition will be seamless."

Will began his statement to the board by thanking Livingstone, who had been CEO of the SHA since its inception in 2017.

"Personally, there is no doubt I was disappointed with Scott moving on from his role. He has provided me significant mentorship over the years, and I have valued his leadership," said Will.

The meeting marked the first time Will has spoken to media since taking over as CEO.

"This is day five for me, so I haven't been in this particular role for a long time yet," Will said, noting how much of his work so far has been around addressing service resumptions. "My first five days has been just reaching out to our teams, ensuring that they know they have continued leadership from me during this time of interim CEO and ensuring we continue to meet the needs of our patients."

"We've got a new gentleman in there that is very capable and again is focused on what the people of Saskatchewan are telling me they want: to have their surgeries resumed, have their services resumed and we're working on that immediately," said Minister of Health Paul Merriman.

Merriman also noted an announcement is forthcoming on Thursday surrounding service resumption.

SHA leadership would not disclose terms surrounding Livingstone's departure.

Will did respond to comments made by NDP Leader Ryan Meili in the legislature that Dr. Janet Tootoosis resigned from her role over fatigue in the system.

"Certainly the pressures of COVID and healthcare's response has put pressure on absolutely every person that works within the Saskatchewan Health Authority whether it be our care staff that are caring for patients or our leaders that are supporting those teams," "I'm proud of how people have responded and continue to respond."

Livingstone's decision to step down was made public on Dec. 2 while Suann Laurent's role as COO remains vacant, according to Will.