London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care, London (St. Joseph’s) are distinct institutions reporting to independent Boards of Directors. Management of each hospital is delegated by the Boards to a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who is responsible to the Boards for carrying out their policies and strategic directions. St. Joseph’s is a Catholic Health Care Organization accountable to the St. Joseph’s Health Care Society and to the Bishop of the London Diocese.
The top three Board functions (adapted from the OHA Guide to Good Governance) are to:
Be responsible for the overall governance of the affairs of the hospital;
Develops and adopts a strategic plan that is consistent with the hospital's mission and values and oversees the hospital's operations for consistency with the strategic plan and strategic directions;
Monitors hospital according to policy and within the budget.
The legal responsibilities of the Board are defined in the Public Hospitals Act.
There are both distinct and integrated Vice President positions within LHSC and St. Joseph's and one shared Chief Operating Officer (COO). The shared COO has accountability for the Clinical Services portfolio which is made up of seven clinical programs, Medicine, Surgery, Mental Health, Women’s & Children’s, Oncology, Complex, Specialty Aging & Rehabilitative Care, and Clinical Support Services. The integrated clinical services each have their own Integrated Vice President and Senior Medical Directors: Four of the clinical services, Medicine Services, Mental Health Services, Clinical Support Services, and Surgery Services are integrated between LHSC and St. Joseph's. In addition, LHSC has two distinct clinical services each with its own Vice President and a Senior Medical Director: Cancer Services and Women and Children’s Services, and St. Joseph's has two clinical services with its own Vice President: Complex, Specialty Aging & Rehabilitative Care and the Perinatal Program. There are two other integrated Vice President roles on the clinical side, the IVP Medical Education & Medical Affairs and the IVP Professional Practice and Chief Nursing Officer. Finally, there are five integrated Non-Clinical Leadership with their own IVP’s for Information Management, Finance Services, Facilities Management & Restructuring, Planning & Operational Improvement and Research. Links to the detailed organizational charts are below.
Although there are separate Boards of Directors at LHSC and St. Joseph's, the Professional Staff is considered to be "city-wide". All Professional Staff members are required under the bylaws to have an appointment at both LHSC and St. Joseph's. The Boards grant the hospital appointments.
The Professional Staff is organized into Departments and Divisions/Programs that mainly correspond to the academic specialties of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario.
Medical Leadership The various medical leadership roles within LHSC and St. Joseph's are described below.
Department Chair/Chiefs
Department Chair/Chiefs or Department Chiefs lead departments. Department Chiefs have primary accountability for clinical care provided by Professional Staff at LHSC and St. Joseph's. The Chair/Chief Role Description gives more detail about this position.
Chairs of MAC (LHSC and St. Joseph's)
Together with the IVP Medical Education & Medical Affairs, the MAC Chairs facilitates the work of Department Chiefs to ensure quality of medical care provided at LHSC and St. Joseph's. The specific duties of the Chairs of the MAC are outlined in the LHSC and St. Joseph's Professional Staff By-Laws.
Integrated Vice President, Medical Education & Medical Affairs
Together with the MAC Chairs, the IVP Medical Education & Medical Affairs facilitates the work of Department Chiefs to ensure quality of medical care provided at LHSC and St. Joseph's. The IVP has corporate responsibilities as part of the LHSC and St. Joseph's Senior Leadership team, City-Wide Infection Control Committee and Ethics, and is accountable directly to the CEO.
Division Chiefs, Site Chiefs and Program Directors
Each department has other leadership positions accountable to the Department Chair/Chief that support and/or direct the activities of the division, site, or program. The accountabilities and level of autonomy varies within departments. Some Program Directors report to the Senior Medical Director in a Clinical Service.
Integration
Joint meetings are held regularly between both hospitals at all levels, including Senior Leadership, the Medical Advisory Committees (MACs) of LHSC and St. Joseph's and the Professional Staff Organization (PSO).
The Chair of each Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) and elected officers, President and Vice Presidents of the Professional Staff Organization (PSO) are members of their respective Boards by virtue of office as outlined in the Public Hospitals Act.
