THUNDER BAY -- The board of the North West Local Health Integration Network has hired Rhonda Crocker Ellacott to serve as Chief Executive Officer.
There's been no official announcement from the LHIN as yet, but Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre CEO Jean Bartkowiak released the news internally to hospital staff.
Crocker Ellacott, currently the hospital's Executive Vice-President/Patient Care Programs and Health Professions, will assume her new position on May 14, 2018.
She began her career in 1991 as a registered nurse at the former Port Arthur General Hospital.
In his memo, Bartkowiak said that Crocker Ellacott spearheaded a patient and family-oriented care philosophy at the Health Sciences Centre, and that the hospital's standing as a leader of that approach will be her legacy.
Crocker Ellacott will succeed recently-retired Laura Kokocinski as head of the LHIN.
Health integration networks operate in 14 regions across Ontario and are responsible for setting priorities, planning health services, overseeing the integration and coordination of services, and allocating funding for hospitals, long-term care homes, community health centres and other health-related agencies.
In 2017, the Ontario government transferred home and community care services and staff from local Community Care Access Centres to LHINS.
