Nova Scotia Health Authority’s CEO, board has been fired

Premier Tim Houston and Health Minister Michelle Thompson have replaced the team that leads the province’s health authority

HALIFAXtoday\ Chris Stoodley

The Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) will now be led by a four-person leadership team just a day after Houston, Thompson and the rest of the cabinet were sworn into office.

“I’ve said all along that transformational change was needed to improve health care and it starts today,” Houston said in a news release. “We’ve put an experienced team in place with a mandate to listen, make decisions and take quick action. They will remove the barriers that are getting in the way of change and providing better health care to Nova Scotians.”

From left: Karen Oldfield, Dr. Kevin Orrell, Janet Davidson, Premier Tim Houston, Jeannine Lagasse and Michelle Thompson meet after the news conference (Courtesy of Communications Nova Scotia)

Brendan Carr had been the NSHA’s CEO since 2019. Now, Karen Oldfield — who’s the former Halifax Port Authority CEO and once worked for former premier John Hamm — will serve as interim CEO.

Jeannine Lagasse will join Oldfield on the team. Lagasse is appointed deputy minister of the Department of Health and Wellness after serving as associate deputy minister.

Dr. Kevin Orrell also joins the team; he’s appointed CEO of the newly-created Office of the Health Care Professionals Recruitment and he’s the former deputy minister of Health and Wellness.

The Office of the Health Care Professionals Recruitment will focus on recruiting and retaining doctors, nurses, continuing-care assistants, paramedics and other professionals.

Finally, Janet Davidson rounds out the four-person team as the NSHA’s administrator. She’s the former chair of the NSHA board and was the health authority’s interim CEO before Carr.

Craig Beaton, a former senior executive director at the Health Department, moves into the associate deputy role to replace Lagasse. He’s the former executive director at the department.

“I want to thank Dr. Carr and the board of directors at the Nova Scotia Health Authority for their service,” Houston said. “This new team will work with the frontline health-care workers and system leaders to drive the changes that Nova Scotians asked for.”

Houston, Thompson and the leadership team will tour around Nova Scotia between Sept. 20 and 23 to hear from frontline health-care professionals.