Dr. Lynn Mikula hired as new Peterborough Regional Health Centre CEO

Dr. Lynn Mikula will become Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s (PRHC) new CEO, taking on the role on March 31, 2023.

The news was announced at a media event on Monday, Dec. 12, with Dr. Mikula saying she is honoured to be taking over the job from Dr. Peter Laughlin.

Dr. Mikula has already been serving at the hospital as chief of surgery, chief of staff, chief medical executive and executive vice-president. She’s coming into her new job as Peterborough faces ongoing challenges with staffing and respiratory viruses putting larger demand on the hospital.

There is “combined stress placed on us for demand of acute services and the staffing crisis,” said Dr. Mikula, adding “this is a core challenge at the moment that we need to keep focusing on.”

Hospital board chair Robert Gibson called Mikula an “experienced hospital leader and surgeon with an impressive background” and while other candidates were competitive, she stood out among others for her dedication to patients.

“It was really a very easy choice for the board,” he said.

Among the difficulties the hospital is facing is a staffing shortage. Nursing unions have called out Bill 124, which capped the wage increases for public sector workers at one-per cent annually, as harming recruitment and retention efforts. Though it was recently defeated in court.

Though PRHC’s CEO is usually at the top of the Sunshine List for the highest paid public roles in Peterborough. Responding to this, Dr. Mikula said “Bill 124 remains a very important factor in the landscape.”

Gibson elaborated, calling Bill 124 a “challenge we are faced with” and that hopefully soon the situation will change. He also said the hospital recognizes the enormous workload nurses and other healthcare workers have been facing the past two years, and says “it is certainly something we need to address as a board.”

He also said the hospital also has to comply with The Broader Sector Accountability Act, which restricts pay increases for the CEO too.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve though, Dr. Mikula says while it’s hard to predict what will happen next, the hospital needs to plan ahead.

“We are still in the midst of a crisis of respiratory viruses and that’s not going away any time soon,” she said.

She did add though the hospital will be doing a strategic planning review that will hopefully lay a solid foundation for the hospital beyond the pandemic.

Dr. Mikula is taking over the role from Dr. Laughlin, the current CEO, who announced he was planning on retiring in May, after working at the hospital for 17 years and in the healthcare field for half a century.

In a call with reporters earlier in December, Dr. Mikula has previously warned that the winter season would be “tough” and said the emergency department would likely have to prioritize the highest-need patients, and those with less acute symptoms would face longer wait times.

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