Geneviève Biron named head of Santé Québec

The former president and CEO of Biron Groupe Santé, Geneviève Biron, was named head of Santé Québec – the government corporation.

Health and Social Services Minister Christian Dubé made the announcement on Monday afternoon in Quebec City.

“I think the reason we’re so proud today is that this is an important step within the realization of our health plan,” said Dubé.

Biron, who no longer holds an interest in her family business, was appointed for a three-year term.

“I arrive today with a different perspective on our healthcare system, and I want to contribute to an innovative approach and vision,” she said. “My focus is on access (…) This motivation is part of a larger objective, which is to increase Quebecers’ confidence in the health-care system.”

“I think the quality that we were looking for is leadership and I think that the people that I’ve been dealing with, Ms. Biron, when she has been CEO for 15 years, not a couple of years, but 15 years, and she has increased the value of that group, I think the leadership is the other thing,” said Dubé. “I think we have some issues with our people. They want to have a better environment to work. And I think that within the people that she will be able to bring with her in that small team will be a very strong HR person to make sure that we have a plan with our nurses, with our orderlies, with our doctors.”

Dubé also announced the appointment of Frédéric Abergel as executive vice president, operations and transformation. Abergel had been president and CEO of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) since 2023.

“If we want to achieve different results, we have to think and act differently. Ms. Biron and Mr. Abergel are the complementary management duo that Quebecers need,” said the minister.

The Santé Québec agency was set up under Bill 15 – passed under a gag order last December – by the National Assembly.

“When we did this project, Bill 15, we said clearly that we needed to have a new governance, and that new governance was in one of the things that we would need a CEO that would coordinate the work within our 35 PDGs,” said Dubé. “Because it’s a lot of work to work with those people and make sure that we have access to best practices.”

The head of Santé Québec will be the orchestra conductor for the entire health-care network, and Biron’s main mandate will be to coordinate and evaluate the new agency’s delivery of health and social services.

Biron will also be responsible for ensuring the availability of Santé Québec’s human, material, financial and information resources.

The head of the new Crown corporation will earn $652,050 a year for the first two years of her mandate.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews