'I don't know if I really wanted it,' says Dr. Pat Parfrey as newly appointed CEO of N.L.'s health authority
Dr. Pat Parfrey replaced interim NLHS CEO Karen Stone last Thursday
Dr. Pat Parfrey didn't choose his new job. The job chose him.
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services named Parfrey — a medical practitioner for more than four decades and co-chair of the health accord — its new CEO on Thursday.
It's a position he says he didn't have his sights set on.
"I don't know if I really wanted it. I was asked whether I would do it," Parfrey told reporters on Monday.
Parfrey is a clinical epidemiologist and kidney specialist. He is also known for his research in kidney and genetic diseases. Most recently, he served as the provincial government's deputy minister of health transformation.
The health accord, released in 2022, is a 10-year plan to revamp the province's health-care system.
Parfrey said he accepted the role because of his insight on the health accord.
He replaces Karen Stone, who had been in the role on an interim basis following the departure of former CEO David Diamond, who retired in early 2024.
WATCH | Dr. Pat Parfrey will be 'extremely disappointed' if N.L. doesn't see improvements soon:
The health accord is entering its third year of implementation. Parfrey says he believes his position will be valuable following the merger of the province's four regional health authorities into one singular health authority in April, 2023.
"There was a lot of things happening that might benefit from the energy that I had and the insight that I had," Parfrey said. "I thought that I might make a difference to the implementation of the actions of the health accord by taking this job."
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With files from Mark Quinn
