The monumental challenge facing the new executive director
of CHUM centre-ville
After 35 years in the health care system in France, Christian Paire is coming to Montreal to take the helm of the future CHUM centre-ville. It’s a colossal task for Mr. Paire, who will be required to coordinate the work of 300 managers and more than 10,000 employees.
The new French executive director was introduced to Montreal media in early October. Unanimously chosen at the close of an international selection process, Mr. Paire has been hired on a four-year renewable contract. He continues to be the director of the Rouen hospital in France, and will only take the reins of the future CHUM at the end of November.
Although he has not yet officially taken up his duties, Mr. Paire is well aware of the many challenges that await him, especially as regards the management of human resources of this ambitious undertaking in the heart of downtown Montreal. According to CHUM’s most recent annual report, 880 doctors currently work at the hospital, in addition to 270 investigators and some 9,000 workers in various fields.
Just how does Mr. Paire plan to rally all these people around the CHUM project? “I believe in respect and equity,” he says. “In Paris, I succeeded in motivating 7,000 employees who worked in three different hospitals [to create the Georges Pompidou hospital].»
Listen to the sergeants
The new chief will also have to find a middle ground with the establishment’s doctors, who have already voiced their concerns about building the hospital as a public-private partnership (PPP). M. Paire has promised to listen to what they have to say.
The executive director is counting on the support of 300 or so CHUM managers to succeed in his mission. He met with many of them a few days ago. “Generals don’t win wars. Sergeants win wars,” he said, showing his fondness for famous quotes.
The top administrator wants to guide the hospital’s managers more than lead them. “They have my trust. I will help and support them,” he said at the press conference.
Thorny issue of bonuses for managers
Among the hot issues that M. Paire will have to settle is the contentious one of performance bonuses for managers. It has gotten a lot of coverage lately, when the media reported that in 2008, CHUM managers received a million dollars in various bonuses.
These bonuses never represent more than 2% of managers’ annual pay, however. They were initially instituted to compensate top executives for their many hours of overtime. According to their contracts, top managers are supposed to work 35 hours a week, but work closer to 60 hours on average.
The new director does not intend to do away with performance bonuses, but thinks that such a practice needs to be sufficiently regulated. “It makes sense if it is properly supervised. I have always thought that if someone has the same status as a colleague, but more responsibility, that it should be taken into consideration,” noted Mr. Paire.
Beyond this statement, M. Paire said that he did not want to wade any further into the debate. He will make his priority management objectives known in early January.
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CHUM human resources in numbers:
– 300 managers
– 880 doctors
– 270 investigators
– 700 volunteers
– 5,000 students/interns
– 9,000 employees of all kinds (excluding managers)
– 16,000 people in total work at the hospital
Source: 2007–2008 CHUM annual report