Close up with former Board Chair Paul Leon
Q and A with Paul Leon
The Niagara Health System Board of Trustees is made up of volunteers who live and work in Niagara. Each Board member brings unique skills and expertise to this leadership role. The Board is responsible for governing the NHS and providing strategic direction to the Hospital to ensure it meets the healthcare needs of the community within the resources that are available.
Niagara Health Now is publishing a series of question-and-answer profiles on individual members of the Board to help our readers get better acquainted with them. This week’s profile is of Paul Leon, former Chair of the Board. Paul completed his three three-year terms of service on the Board on June 23.
Where do you live?
I was born in Welland and have lived in Niagara all my life, except for the eight years I spent at University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, as well as a short stint in the family furniture business. After our children Adam and Jennifer left home, we began to spend May through to Christmas at our cottage property in Port Colborne, making it our permanent home several years later.
Occupation:
I was called to the Bar in 1973 and restrict my law practice to Estates, Business Law and Commercial and Residential Real Estate. What are the greatest rewards from your job? As well as the great satisfaction from exploring solutions and solving challenges facing my clients, just getting to know and be a small part of the lives of so many terrific and dynamic people has been very rewarding.
What influenced you to become a member of the NHS Board of Trustees?
Since my return to Welland from Toronto in 1973, I have volunteered with many community organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society, Lung Association, Community Living, and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Association. I decided if I was going to have a balanced family and work life, I best concentrate my contribution to one area where I could continue to serve my community and still meet my family and law practice obligations. I chose to apply for a position on the Welland Hospital Board, and today I bring more than 30 years of Trustee experience to my work on the NHS.
What is your greatest achievement or reward as a member of the Board?
As a member of the NHS team, I can claim no great achievement as my own, since even as Chair, I only carried out the decisions and deliberations of the Board of Trustees with whom I had the privilege to serve. There was much accomplished in the early days of the NHS. The melding of the many diverse corporate cultures, the settlement of the longstanding issues in St. Catharines with the then Hotel Dieu Hospital, the negotiations for the new hospital and purchase of the new hospital site, and the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine satellite campus established in Niagara are a few of the outstanding accomplishments of the Board during my term.
What is the greatest opportunity for the NHS?
One of the greatest strengths of the NHS is its ability to assess and respond in a timely manner to the healthcare needs of the 435,000 residents within its catchment area. The Dialysis Unit in Welland and the proposal for the same in Niagara Falls, as well as the new Emergency and Ambulatory Care Unit in Niagara Falls are examples of resource allocation based on demographic evidence of healthcare needs. The Hospital Improvement Plan (HIP) is a similarly evidence-based response to the healthcare needs in Niagara and incorporates assurances of the continuation of quality outcomes in the provision of hospital care. With provincial dollars spent on healthcare approaching more than 45 per cent and with the capital deficit for hospitals being in the billions of dollars, it is clear there is a desperate need for change on how we deliver these vital services.
What is the NHS’s greatest challenge?
Hospitals have been described by numerous governance and business leaders as the most complex organizations in the world. It is difficult to get people to appreciate and understand the challenges to the ongoing delivery of quality healthcare and patient safety.
What community causes are closest to your heart?
I was a founding member of the Niagara Community Foundation, the Niagara College Foundation and the Niagara Health System Foundation. I am an honorary member of the Welland Hospital Foundation. My heart is closest to the NHS. I have not completed certain causes which I am personally championing (continued enhancement to quality and patient safety). I do hope to be invited back in the future.
How would you describe yourself to someone who doesn’t know you?
I would be unable to describe myself to anyone who did not know me as I really do try not to promote myself.
What is your greatest personal achievement?
I am still working on my greatest personal achievement which involves where I will spend eternity. I will let you know how I make out. «
