Health P.E.I. CEO Dr. Michael Gardam submits resignation
CBC
Health P.E.I. CEO Dr. Michael Gardam has submitted his resignation and plans to leave the role in March 2024, he confirmed to CBC News.
Citing personal reasons, Gardam said his resignation will be effective on March 29. Gardam gave his notice of resignation to the Health P.E.I. board of directors on Friday, according to his letter.
"I want to be clear that I am leaving for personal reasons, including being closer to my family," the letter reads.
"For the next nine months, my plan is to continue just as I have since I started here in 2020 — making changes to the system to support staff, building resilient healthcare services for Islanders, and being open and honest with our challenges and our areas of excellence.
"The months ahead will have many challenges, no doubt — that has been the one constant over the past three years. However, we also have so many opportunities and things are going in the right direction."
Gardam took on the permanent role of CEO in October of 2021. Before that, he served as interim CEO after former head, Denise Lewis Fleming, stepped down.
P.E.I.'s health-care system has faced numerous struggles during Gardam's tenure: rural hospitals have faced repeated ER closures, while Island doctors have warned of a system collapse if urgent action is not taken and the number of patients on the health-care registry for a family doctor has risen to more than 30,000.
In his resignation letter, Gardam highlighted some of the work done during his tenure — like negotiating collective agreements with health-care workers, growing the number of medical homes across the province, and cutting red tape to make hiring new staff easier — but acknowledged there's still a lot of work to be done.
"We need to recruit many, many people and integrate new professionals such as physician assistants, midwives, and associate physicians. And we need to work with UPEI to ensure the health-care system is ready to be a welcoming partner when the first medical students arrive," the letter reads.
"Those are just a few priorities out of huge list of priorities. But we are checking things off the list every day. We are constantly progressing and, whether or not that progress is evident yet to Islanders receiving services, it is making a difference."
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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