'I will miss it:' Alex Munter reflects on his 13 years as the head of CHEO

Tuesday is Alex Munter’s last day as the head of eastern Ontario’s children’s hospital after more than a decade on the job.

Munter, who has served as the head of CHEO since 2011, announced last month he would be stepping down from his role to become the CEO of the Canadian Medical Association.

He leaves his role as the longest serving children's hospital CEO in Canada and the longest serving hospital CEO in Ottawa.

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Munter has been a well-known figure in Ottawa for decades. He served as a city councillor in the Ottawa area from 1991 to 2003, sitting as a councillor for Kanata and the Ottawa-Carleton region prior to amalgamation. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Ottawa in 2006.

Prior to joining CHEO, he was the CEO of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

Munter said he will still be closely involved with pediatric physicians, CHEO and other health-care organizations when he takes on his new position at the Canadian Medical Association in December.

CTV News Ottawa's Patricia Boal spoke with Munter before his last day. The interview has been edited for clarity.

As you look back at over a decade in your role, what would you say was your greatest challenge?

The greatest challenge was the pandemic. I'm blown away, but not surprised by the courage of the people at CHEO and the people across the health care system.

It's funny 13 years in some ways, it was and is a very long time, and in other ways I can remember that first day very clearly, so it's gone by very fast.

You became a parent during that time, did it change your perspective in the job you were doing?

It changes your life, and I think being at CHEO and being around kids and seeing the triumph over adversity and what an amazing thing child development is, I think that probably contributed to me wanting to become a parent.

You're leaving as this hospital is on the verge of a massive redevelopment and trying to evolve to serve the needs of the community. Do you feel that you're stepping aside while leaving the job partly undone?

CHEO is in a strong place, the health care system has a lot of challenges, and no day goes by without those challenges manifesting themselves, but we have a great team, we have a great plan, we have amazing support from the community.

So, it feels like now is actually a good time to pass the baton. I feel like part of leadership is knowing when to go and finding the right moment. I look forward to the new challenge, I look forward to working with physicians from across Canada to work on some of the big problems in the system.

It has been a tough environment for the health care system recently. Are you leaving partly because it is so difficult to do a job with fewer resources?

Yes and no. I don’t think in the broader public sector there are any easy roles and I think CHEO is blessed with amazing resources. I've done 13 budgets, I've done 10 quality improvement plans, over 1,000 accountability agreements with government, and I think a fresh set of eyes on all of those kinds of issues and tasks will be good for the organization.

I will miss it, I will miss the people, I will miss the sense of purpose and mission that is there. I have mixed feelings, but I know in my heart that now is the time.

Do you feel okay with the state of health care in this province?

I think there is a lot of work to do. I think there's a lot of solutions. I think the people who have the solutions are the people in the field doing the work. There's lots of innovation happening.

That’s really why I'm excited about where I'm going because the Canadian Medical Association, has if you look at its history, has really helped make positive change, including the very first public health insurance in Canada.

Hopefully I can have an impact on CHEO in the new role, just one step removed.

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Ted Raymond