CORNWALL – Cornwall Community Hospital Chief Executive Officer Jeanette Despatie has been named to the top job at the Brockville General Hospital.
Despatie will be joining BGH as the acting president and chief executive officer of the struggling health care facility in Brockville.
She is part of a so-called “recovery team” announced by provincial supervisor Kevin Empey Monday afternoon.
Despatie has been allowed to join BGH part-time after getting clearance from the CCH board of directors. She will be a consultant to the supervisor and not an employee of BGH. It is not a permanent position.
The Brockville hospital has been mired in debt and had to take out a $5.3 million loan from the Local Health Integration Network in September just to cover its bills.
That’s on top of $4.2 million in red ink the hospital posted at the end of the fiscal year in 2016.
The hospital parted ways with its CEO, Tony Weeks, in July.
It’s not clear how CCH will cover off Despatie’s responsibilities while she’s working in Brockville.
Ginette Ferguson, a nurse practitioner with several leadership positions at CCH, has also been named as clinical advisor to the CEO (Despatie).