Dr. Norman Hill says the warm and caring qualities of both the Queensway General Hospital, where he was Chief of Staff and The Mississauga Hospital, set the tone for the development of the new Trillium Health Centre.

“We more than doubled in size, expanded our programs and experienced a change in philosophy that led us to work for betterment of patient care through the leadership of Ken White  and the concept of 1001 leaders” Our size allows us to provide many more subspecialty services and better quality of care.

Through its first decade, Trillium has continued to evolve. For example, Dr. Hill says medicine is no longer sole domain of the physician. “We work in inter-professional teams which include other health care experts whose knowledge and training we respect.”

Calling himself a “lifer” – his first job, in 1982, was with Queensway – Dr. Hill, now Vice President of Medical Affairs, says he is happy and proud to work at Trillium.   Dividing his time between general surgery and administration, he sees his role as a bridge, promoting productive relationships between physicians and the administration.

“It is, without question, easier to be a good administrator because I practice medicine.  I understand the challenges that doctors face on a daily basis and am able to hear the concerns of  front line staff.”   He lives that role by demonstrating good medical care, listening, collaborating, promoting and communicating.

“We do have our challenges, but they’re somewhat minor in comparison to what other organizations face.”

Those challenges, he says, include providing state-of-the-art care with a funding model that puts constraints on being innovative, keeping equipment up to date, learning to work within the new LHIN (Local Health Integration Networks) model and transforming Trillium “as we journey down path to become a hospital supporting teaching”.

His goal is to meet those challenges by developing leadership that will help us transition to a culture of teaching, expanding existing programs and developing new programs within a climate of fiscal responsibility.