Shared Health has chosen Lanette Siragusa — who became one of the public faces of Manitoba's COVID-19 pandemic response — as its new chief executive officer. She will start on Monday.

Siragusa is "a born leader whose vast experience in health care make her a natural choice" for the job, said Brenna Shearer, Shared Health's board chair, in a news release.

"We are delighted to welcome Lanette back to Shared Health as our CEO and believe her presence in our organization will benefit patients and staff throughout the province."

Shared Health is the organization that oversees the delivery of health care in the province.

A registered nurse, Siragusa initially joined Shared Health in 2017 and served as the organization's first chief nursing officer.

She took a leadership role during when the pandemic began, serving as the co-incident commander of Manitoba's COVID-19 response.

Siragusa became a household name to many in the province while appearing alongside Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin during regular news conferences, where she provided updates on the pandemic's effects on the health-care system.

She left Shared Health in early 2022 to become the vice-dean of education at the University of Manitoba's Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

She takes over the helm of Shared Health from Adam Topp, whose resignation was announced on Thursday. He stepped down two years into his five-year contract.