Shared Health names Siragusa next CEO Former chief nursing officer steps in after Topp’s sudden resignation, leak of report By: Carol Sanders Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Apr. 28, 2023 Last Modified: 2:10 PM CDT Saturday, Apr. 29, 2023 Updates

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The unexpected resignation of Shared Health CEO Adam Topp after the leak of a damning report — followed by the announcement Friday evening of high-profile replacement Lanette Siragusa — has left many asking questions.

“I find it very coincidental that his resignation comes on the heels of the document about burnout had been leaked,” Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said Friday.

She was referring to the confidential 51-page draft report prepared by Deloitte in April 2022, and released by Manitoba’s NDP and Liberals in question period Monday.

Opposition releases confidential report revealing burnout, job desperation in Manitoba highest in Canada

The report commissioned by Shared Health found most of the province’s health workforce reported a low level of well-being and resilience, and was ready to quit, posing a risk to both employees and patients.

It contains 34 recommendations to support health workers that were developed through focus groups, interviews and surveys with employees on the front lines.

When asked if Topp’s departure had anything to do with the draft report coming to light, Health Minister Audrey Gordon didn’t respond.

Her office issued a prepared statement Friday responding to Topp’s resignation.

“We thank Adam Topp for his service and dedication to Shared Health. Manitobans can be assured that during these transitional times, the health system will be there for patients to provide the care that they need. We look forward to the announcement of the incoming CEO in the coming days.”

Late Friday afternoon, Shared Health announced its former chief nursing officer will take over as chief executive officer May 1.

Siragusa became one of the faces of the COVID-19 pandemic for many Manitobans, as part of the province’s regular briefings alongside chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin.

Siragusa left Shared Health for the University of Manitoba, where she was vice-dean of education and associate director of Ongomiizwin Health Services at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences for more than a year.

The departure of Topp, meanwhile, was met with surprise and disappointment.

Colleagues were shocked by the news of his resignation, calling it unexpected, a source told the Free Press.

Just last month, Topp was the guest on the Health Insurance Reciprocal of Canada podcast, talking about Manitoba’s health system transformation undertaken by Shared Health.

In the episode titled “Transformation and Service as Anchors to Success,” he discussed Shared Health’s approach to the current health human resources crisis: “having good practices in talent management, retention, and embedding a people leader in senior management,” the show notes said.

The nurses and union representatives who had contact with Topp are “sad” to see him go, said Jackson.

“He was an exceptional leader. For our individuals that have dealt with him, this is a big loss.”–Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson

“He was an exceptional leader,” the MNU president said, hours before the Siragusa announcement. “For our individuals that have dealt with him, this is a big loss.

“I do know that Adam Topp was genuinely respected by the nursing leaders who dealt with him from MNU. So I think that’s going to be a loss for us.”

Shared Health was established in 2018 as a legal entity by the Manitoba government to provide centralized clinical and business services for the regional health authorities.

Its goal was to reduce duplication of management and administrative functions, while making sure each region is able to provide health-care services with the guidance of a provincial clinical services plan, and make sure services provided centrally are co-ordinated and consistent.

Topp, who became Manitoba’s director for health transformation in 2018 was named CEO in 2021, with a salary of $259,223, according to the most recent public compensation disclosure.

He was in charge amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while overseeing ongoing health system transformation and day-to-day delivery of clinical and administrative services at the core of Shared Health’s mandate.

“We thank Adam for his service and dedication to Shared Health and for advancing health care in Manitoba,” the chairwoman of Shared Health’s board of directors said in a news release Thursday.

Manitobans are losing confidence in the health-care system, with long wait times and staffing shortages, and now the person in charge of system has abruptly left, NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said.

“His resignation is significant,” the Union Station MLA said Friday.

“We’re in the midst of a health-care crisis in Manitoba,” said Asagwara. “Their leadership is jumping ship and, to me, it’s just another indication that this government doesn’t have its act together — that the leaders of our health-care system are not operating in a way that is prioritizing people first.”

“No one seems to be able to tell us exactly how Shared Health is supposed to really function.”–NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara

The rollout of Shared Health “has gone very poorly,” and successive Progressive Conservative health ministers are to blame, said the MLA and nurse. “No one seems to be able to tell us exactly how Shared Health is supposed to really function.”

When reporters had a chance to question the health minister about the leaked report Wednesday, she said it was commissioned by Shared Health, she hadn’t seen it and would only read a final report — not one in draft form.

On Friday, Jackson asked why.

“If you actually read the report and acknowledge that there’s an issue, then it’s your responsibility to do something about that issue,” the union leader said. “So sometimes pleading ignorance is the best way to manage a situation like this.

“I think it’s a shame that she hasn’t read it and doesn’t intend to read it.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.