ma

HOSE OF us who don’t
work in the medical profes-
sion respect doctors for
carrying the ultimate pro-
fessional responsibility: human
life. Robert (Bob) Smith’s respon-
sibility is equally awe-inspiring: he
not only oversees a workplace of
doctors but presides over a mam-
moth institution with a staff of
3,000.
find I'm sometimes impa-
tient,” Lions Gate Hospital’s cur-
rent president confides during an
interview.

But putting in 11-hour days and
rushing to after-hour meetings is
something Smith thrives on.
don’t have time for hob-
bies’’, he says, although he admits
to enjoying the occasional sport.
“I broke my ankle sliding into
second base during a slow pitch
game last year,’ he says, motion-
ing to the floor. ‘‘But most of the
time | work hard.’

Today, after alrnost two years at
the helm of LGH, Smith confesses
he is more satisfied than ever be-
fore.

For an optimistic Smith, the job
of top dog was something he had
had his eye on for the past 10
years. When the LGH position
became available in 1988 he turn-

40 - Sunday, January 14, 1990 - North Shore News

AFFLUENCE¢

a

INFLUENCE

Lions Gate Hospital president Bob Smith says he’s enjoyed meeting the challenges that he has met in his

Philip Cohen. The hospital is currently raising funds for a new one.

Bob Smith: thriving under pressure

ed down an attractive job offer
from the Ontario Cancer Treat-
ment and Research Foundation
and snapped it up.

in doing so he took over the
reins of a highly complex
organization, one that has gone
through turbulent change in the
past year, Smith~ has faced a
number of problerns, but the most
pressing one has been the Jack of
free-flowing resources.

Strained government funding
has taken its toll on LGH and led
to departmental cutbacks, staff
reductions, bed closures,
tescheduled operating room hours
and the introduction of minimal
user fees for specific medical day
programs.

“We had to go through a fair
amount of restraint and that's
been difficult,” confesses a tower-
ing Smith. ‘The board had to
make difficult decisions — the
reductions we made took about $2
million out of what we would have
liked to have had. One thing you
have to appreciate about health
care in Canada, however, is that it
is a rationed resource literally by
definition. And so decisions are
always being made about how we
ration Our resources.””

It's no secret that many were

unhappy with the recent state of
changes. The cutbacks disrupted
staff, particularly those employed
in the hospital’s rehabilitation ser-
vices — physiotherapy, occupa-
tional therapy, and social work
departments.

“We certainly experienced a
lot of uncertainty and frustration
on the part of staff and I’m not
sure that all of those kinks have
been worked out,”” Smith says.

But he adds: ‘You'll always
have some who will say the hospi-
tal is not as good as it used to be.
But the bottom line is, are we con-
tinuing to provide the care that is
necessary to the North Shore
communities we serve? In my
view, we are, You don’t want to
compromise that kind of posi-
tion.”

Smith will be hard-pressed to
uphold that pledge especially in
the years to come. With stretched
government funding combined
with the coming explosive growth
in the aging population, one of his
biggest challenges will be ensuring

that the hospital continues to
deliver quality care.
Says Smith: “We'll probably

see increasing efficiencies (in the
health care system), but I think
we're also going to have to see a

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first two years as president. In the photo above right, he discusses one of LGH’s gamma cameras with Dr.

little more money. | don’t think
we'll be able to meet the future at
this kind of level.”

Smith, 45, admits his job has had
its ups and downs. Sitting back in
his modest office surrounded by
native art, he says results are often
slow in coming in such a huge bu-
reaucracy.

“Jobs like mine tend to be ones
where ‘you're thinking 1% years
down the road. Sometimes | get
discouraged, but most of the time
it’s a rewarding experience.

“We complain a heil of a lot
about the hospital internally, but
in reality when you actually see all
the pieces come together it’s
something to be a little bit in awe
of.”

Another*hurdle Smith had to
overcome fast year was the B.C.
nurses’ stvike.

LGH faced a three-week walk-
out by its nursing staff.

But despite the inconvenience, the
hospital weathered it well, he says.

Although he believes strikes are
not the way to solve disputes,
Smith was openly sympathetic to
the nurses’ demands and argued
for dramatically improved wages.

“4 personally ielt a lot of sym-
pathy for them. 1 had a terrific
amount of respect for their com-

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mitment to maintaining a standard
of care for their patients during the
strike.”

When it comes to discussing his
own accomplishments, Smith is
net as forthcoming.

“You cannot take places like
Lions Gate Hospital by storm,’’ he
says. “You'll have to ask me that
at the end of five years.”’

Smith, a Vancouver native who
grew up in Trail, B.C., entered the
health industry in 1975 as assistant
to the executive director of the Ar-
thritis Society. !n 1980 he left his
job to become deputy director of
the Cancer Control Agency.

Today he is involved in a large
number of community health
organizations: he is also chairman
of the Red Cross Building Commit-
tee, director of the Canadian Hos-
pital Association, vice-president of
B.C. Health Services and was
formerly involved with the mam-
mogram screening program in
B.C. hospitals.

Married with three children,
Smith sees himself as a rare breed
of businessman: “1 never dread
coming inio work here. | look at
myself and believe I’m in a rare
position — fufilled in what | do
and committed to helping others.”
— Evelyn Jacob

West Vancouver
Chapter