HIROC looks forward to working with new OHA president
Wednesday November 14, 2007 -- Natalie Miller
The Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) is looking forward to a continued positive relationship with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) following the announcement of the association's new president and CEO.

The OHA’s board of directors announced recently Tom Closson will take over the role of president and CEO in January.

Closson has previously served as president and CEO of three of the nation’s leading healthcare organizations — the University Health Network (UHN) and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and the Capital Health Region in Victoria, BC. He replaces longtime OHA employee and current president and CEO Hilary Short, who will retire at the end of this year.

“I know Tom from his days at Sunnybrook and UHN and am looking forward to working with him in his new role as OHA president,” says Peter Flattery, CEO of HIROC.

“HIROC and OHA have cemented a wonderful relationship during Hilary’s reign and I fully expect that to continue with Tom. Our respective organizations and the members we serve share parallel interests and objectives making our common efforts for advocacy, education and patient safety a perfect fit," he says.

Closson holds a master’s degree in business administration and has extensive experience in healthcare management and governance, leadership and facilitation, change management, strategy development and e-health implementation.

The OHA announced Closson will join the association during its annual HealthAchieve conference in Toronto last week. He begins his new role on Jan. 14, 2008.