Dr. Frank Martino: Leading with Passion and Inspiring Positive Change

(Access show transcript) Dr. Frank Martino shares insights into his transformative leadership journey, innovative projects, and culture-building while being at the helm of the William Osler Health System.

Show Summary

In this latest episode of HIROC’s Healthcare Change Makers podcast, Dr. Frank Martino, President and CEO of the William Osler Health System, reflects on his leadership journey while emphasizing the importance of remaining positive and aiming high in your career, especially in the context of leading one of Canada’s largest community hospital systems.

Dr. Martino highlights his organization’s ambitious initiatives, including the adoption of an advanced hospital information system, new redevelopment projects, and a groundbreaking partnership with Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) School of Medicine. Our discussion also touches on Osler’s commitment to innovation, such as incorporating technologies like artificial intelligence into future healthcare delivery.

Throughout the interview, Dr. Martino's passion for healthcare and his commitment to building strong partnerships and a resilient, patient-centric culture shines through. He talks about the importance of cultivating a positive workplace, building psychological safety within his organization, and the value of learning from failures.

Dr. Martino also delves into his thoughts on his outstanding healthcare team at Osler and their unwavering commitment during challenges posed by the pandemic, and how his organization has evolved to respond to the complexities of serving a growing and diverse community since he joined in 1991. Our conversation even turned personal for a moment as Dr. Martino shared a few heartwarming memories from his experience, including a critical life-saving moment early in his career, showcasing his dedication to his healthcare team.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Toronto Metro Metropolitan University School of Medicine
• Brampton Civic Hospital
• Etobicoke General Hospital
• Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health & Wellness
• The College of Family Physicians of Canada
• Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well by Amy Edmonson
• The University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM)
• Family Medicine - Western University

Transcript 

Imagine you could step inside the minds of Canada's healthcare leaders, glimpse their greatest fears, strongest drivers, and what makes them tick. Welcome to Healthcare Change Makers, a podcast where we talk to leaders about the joys and challenges of driving change and working with partners to create the safest healthcare system.

Marc Aiello: Hello, listeners. Welcome back to HIROC's Healthcare Change Makers podcast. I'm Marc Aiello, communications and Marketing specialist at HIROC, and today I'm joined by my colleague Philip De Souza. For this episode, we have the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Frank Martino, president and CEO of the William Osler Health System. Welcome, Frank, and thank you so much for taking a moment to chat with us today.

Dr. Frank Martino: It's a pleasure to be here, Marc.

Marc Aiello: We've definitely been looking forward to speaking with you. So, let's jump right into it. So it's been over a year and a bit now since you were officially announced as Osler's president and CEO. What's been your biggest lesson so far leading one of Canada's largest community hospital systems?

Dr. Frank Martino: There are multiple lessons, I believe. I think I can say I learned many things, but if I were to focus on one, I think the first lesson is always to remain positive and aim high. So this is an organization that is planning for the future of healthcare in our community, and so we need to aim high. We're one of the leading hospital systems in the province, certainly one of the largest community hospitals in both Ontario and I would say Canada as a multi-site hospital system. And Osler's got a bright and exciting future. We're embarking on some ambitious, large-scale initiatives. We're going to be adopting very shortly an advanced hospital information system that really changes the culture within an organization as you move to this huge, huge opportunity to sort of advance the workflow, the quality of the care that you provide with an advanced health information system or hospital information system.

That's going to happen very shortly, and it will mean culture change to some degree. But I can say that the healthcare team is so excited about this. When I took on the role of President and CEO, numerous people stopped me or sent me emails or phone calls, please, please assure that this is one of your priorities, and it definitely is. We're also going to be embarking on some challenging redevelopment projects with the creation of the second hospital in Brampton at Peel Memorial, our old Peel Memorial site and building a comprehensive cancer center that will focus on the patient's entire journey when they're diagnosed with cancer from diagnosis to treatment and to the survivorship program. Most importantly, we'll be able to provide radiation oncology services for the residents of our region. And to top it all off, we're also going to be partnering as the primary affiliate of the Toronto Metropolitan University's new School of Medicine. That's an exciting adventure for us as we move from becoming a large community hospital to an academic health center.

So I think the other thing I've really learned, it's important to have significant partnerships. Any organization can't do it alone. Our Central West Ontario health team, TMU, other academic partners we've been affiliated with, government, our community health partners both locally and regionally, and other hospital systems that we collaborate with, that's sort of been our mantra going forward. Strong partnerships really allow you to achieve great things. And then I think the other thing that I've learned is that I've got an outstanding healthcare team. They provide exceptional care every day. They're unwavering in their commitment. I realize that as I go from unit to unit at all three of our sites, actually at all five of our sites, because many people don't know that we actually have a substance abuse treatment center outside of our walls in the community that we run, manage, and provide those services to the community.

We also have a reactivation center for patients with complex continuing care and reactivation rehabilitation as part of the old Queen Street site of the Humber River Hospital. And so, those are the sites that I visit. And there I really realized that this team is committed and dedicated. We're very, very proud of receiving accreditation with exemplary standing, something that is the highest achievement that you would receive from Accreditation Canada. And that really sort of allowed my staff to understand that they were outstanding, they were exceptional healthcare workers and continue to be. Now, there've been a few other big hallmark things, but aim high and always be positive.

Marc Aiello: I really love your answer, Dr. Martino, because like you said, aiming high with all those incredible projects you have going on. It sounds like your hospital and the Osler Health system is going through this evolution at the moment, but I love your points about partnerships relying on one another and building those strong partnerships to improve and then also looking at your team and learning just how resilient and powerful your team is to build back from the pandemic. And so I'd ask, what's been the most rewarding part of being a hospital CEO so far?

Dr. Frank Martino: I think the most rewarding part of being a CEO is just watching them in action. I've watched our staff of physicians come out of the pandemic, and it's been immensely rewarding to see them in action during the pandemic and then the pride they demonstrated in surviving. Well, we were one of the hardest hit hospitals in Ontario and maybe in Canada. At one point, we transferred out more than 1000 patients. We stabilized and transferred out 1000 patients. We saw more COVID patients probably than any other health system. And during that period of time, they showed innovation resilience. Coming out of that, certainly, there was and continues to be work on recovery, but I've watched them show fortitude, resilience, and a positive outlook, whether it's our externs that come and work with us through the externship program as nursing students, as allied health professionals, our new physicians, and we've recruited quite a number and expanded our medical staff. Watching them, that's what makes me incredibly proud. And it is probably, not probably, it certainly is the most rewarding part of the job.

Marc Aiello: That's a fantastic answer. And to go to the next question, if I'm not mistaken, you joined Osler in 1991, and you've been serving the Brampton community ever since. In your experience, Frank, with this community and Canada's health system in general, how has healthcare changed since 1991?

Dr. Frank Martino: When I used to drive up the then relatively new 410 into Brampton or for that matter, up Highway 427 towards Etobicoke General, those were new communities. There wasn't the huge suburban sprawl that we see today. The sign, I think, the Brampton sign said 207,000 people. Probably, if you count those who are residents here but are not accounted for in any census because they may not have status, we're probably up to 800,000 people or thereabouts. The sign says something like 670, but I guarantee there are many more than that. Certainly, this community has been a challenge because it is a community that has evolved. I'm extremely proud and privileged to be in such a diverse and growing community that brings so much richness to the fabric of the community. We have one of the highest rates of diabetes in the country. And as you can imagine, diabetes is a chronic condition that brings with it a number of complex health complications that we manage every day from cardiovascular disease to kidney disease to complications affecting one's vision, etc.

So we as an organization have had to evolve, and we've had to expand. We've had back-to-back redevelopments in our health system, expanding the capacity that this community deserves. Primary care has evolved as well. Back in 1990, I worked in managing with my colleagues in our health group, family medicine group, inpatients from the moment they were admitted if they needed to be admitted to the IC or CCU, we were the primary physicians, the most responsible physicians in providing their care. I delivered babies just until last year, and I worked in all three emergency departments, well, the two emergency departments, Brampton Civic and Etobicoke General and our urgent care, which is open 24/7 at Peel Memorial. I worked in those departments until just this past May. And so I've seen the community evolve. Healthcare in this community is much more complex. The demographics of the community has changed.

We're now seeing a significant rise in our seniors' population, the second-fastest rise in that demographic group in the country. When you add all that together, this is a much more complex healthcare community and one that brings significant challenges, and that is what we focus on also in addressing those challenges with innovative projects, innovative initiatives, assuring that we communicate with our community. We go to them for advice when a new initiative or a strategy is being put in place. We want to make sure we get the patient and their caregiver, the carers, their perspective on how we should grow programs and what initiatives and innovations we should put in place and whether they actually work for them. And I think this collaborative spirit blends well with our staff and with the organization. It's part of our plan going forward with Peel Memorial for instance, going to the community and saying, these are the services we're going to put them there, how would you like them delivered? What is missing? What isn't?

And it's also part of our partnership with TMU. I think if you look at the pillars on which this new medical school is going to be built, they reflect the values, Osler's values, and those of TMU, they intersect perfectly. And that's what we're proud of, engaging with these kinds of partners and assuring that quality healthcare is delivered. One area I worry about, and I'll be very transparent about that and my colleagues in that specialty are also concerned is primary care. Primary care has had a difficult time during the pandemic when family doctors had to go to virtual care. That connection that the narrative with your patient was over the phone or on the video screen, it was no longer in person. And those relationships, those important relationships that really have created the foundation of Canadian healthcare, family medicine, have been slightly eroded.

I can't say that we're not going to be able to recover those. I'm confident we will. I'm confident that the family doctors in this country are committed to the resurgence of primary care, and that's seen well in our Ontario health teams, the importance of integrated healthcare. And I'm actively involved at the Canadian College of Family Physicians, and I know that the spirit there is to really regenerate, reinvigorate primary care. And I'm starting to see it in our community as more and more of our family doctors are interested in becoming teachers as part of the TMU School of Medicine, which will be interestingly, many people may not be aware, and I hope that this becomes well known throughout the healthcare community. This medical school will focus on generalists, will focus on family medicine, it'll focus on pediatrics, general surgery, emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, those specialties that are linked to generalism.

And I believe that it will provide the much needed health human resource this community needs. Someday, and this has been a discussion I've had with Mohamed Lachemi, the president, CEO of TMU, we want to create a faculty of health sciences where there is that integrated approach to delivering healthcare. And it's taught that way. It's taught that way in the foundation at the grassroots when you become a nurse, a physician, respiratory technologist, a physiotherapist, that you're actually learning with your other colleagues around you in a team approach to learning and care delivery. And that faculty of health sciences, I think will be an outstanding contribution to our community and its future. So I look forward to that. I'm extremely excited about that.

Marc Aiello: Over the years, Dr. Martino, when you think back, what's been your favourite, most heartwarming work memory from over the year? If you could pick one?

Dr. Frank Martino: If I can think of one that I'll never forget, I was a young emergency physician back in the days of my work at Peel Memorial when Peel Memorial was the one hospital in Brampton. I remember this child who was I think three or four years of age, and he was jumping on the couch and fell off and landed on a glass table and had a large laceration in his neck. His father brought him into the emergency department in his arms. He had driven the child in from home. They couldn't wait for an ambulance. They were panicking, and his child was pre-arrest. He was somewhat blue, pale. He had lost a significant amount of blood. And I mobilized the team. One of my emergency physician colleagues was just coming on shift. I was coming off shift. And a plastic surgeon who happened to have been walking through the department five minutes earlier, I called back in.

We mobilized our general surgeon, who's now retired. He was a patient of mine and continues to be a patient of mine. And this young man had a primary... After resuscitated, stabilized him, transfused him, got him ready for the operating room, he actually had a primary repair of the external jugular vein that he lacerated. And he was taken to the operating room. That repair was done, and he was then transferred to the Hospital for Sick Children. I called the hospital the next day, and the surgical fellow came on the phone. He wanted to know the name of the surgeon. He said, you know what? This particular surgeon is a family friend when we lived in Montreal and found out this surgeon actually, he was a general surgeon, did a fellowship in vascular surgery. So he was quite prepared to have done what this child needed. And the fellow said, and you can hear in the background, I'm actually in the patient's room.

He's recovered, running around. We're going to be sending him home tomorrow morning. So he had a very short stay at the hospital for sick children. At the time, we were part of a hospital system that included Georgetown Hospital, and I was working an emergency shift at Georgetown. And this father, he came in and he said, "Do you know who this is?" And I said, "I'm sorry sir, I don't." Then he mentioned the name and I looked at the child and went, "Oh my God." This was about five or six years later, maybe seven years later, child was probably 10, 11 years old. He says, "You saved his life".

Marc Aiello: Oh, my goodness. Powerful.

Dr. Frank Martino: It was one of those moments that make you quite emotional, and you don't forget, really.

Marc Aiello: Yeah, absolutely. No, thank you so much for sharing that.

Dr. Frank Martino: If I had to think of something else that wasn't so personal and private as that, I would say that accreditation last year, outstanding for the organization. I think we scored 99.83. There were only six out of 3,600 standards we didn't meet as an organization. We met all the priority standards that gave us accreditation with exemplary status. But imagine only six. And interestingly, my team challenged those six. I think we scored all, stand back, take the feedback, see how you can improve. But it was a moment of extreme pride. And standing in front of them and being able to give them those results and congratulate them was certainly a heartwarming experience.

Marc Aiello: Thank you so much for sharing those moments. Those are the moments to make it all worth it. Yeah, no, that was excellent. But for the next question, when we spoke last, you may have shared your thoughts on something such as innovative thinking as a continuous process. Do you mind sharing a bit more information on that topic for our listeners? Maybe explaining how it connects to a culture of patient safety.

Dr. Frank Martino: If you look at Osler's values, one value that we actually almost purposely put in place was the value of innovation. There is compassion, there is excellence, a number of Osler values that speak to quality of care. But innovation is one that, for us, comes from the grassroots. One thing we do at Osler, something many organizations have come to observe and try to emulate, is our huddle boards. And these were developed in-house, and there are large TV screens that are in the area within a unit where the staff will come together on a daily basis and review real time information at the local level and across our Osler sites. And these huddle boards were recognized by the health standards organization as a global leading practice. They allow the team to focus on initiatives at the local level, see what Osler initiatives are in play, and how they can more effectively advance those.

The team has embraced huddle boards. When I go and do rounding, we call it let's be Frank or Frank Conversations, they use my first name, Frank Conversations or Let's be Frank. And at these frank conversations, we work around the huddle board, and it's been a huge success. If I think about the butterfly model for dementia care, which is a model of care that looks at the patient's emotional response to dementia and addressing that these units are different. And we are the first acute care hospital in the world to adopt the Butterfly model. It exists in a number of long-term care homes and other non-acute care facilities, but we were the first to adopt it. We received accreditation for that. This model has been visited by a number of organizations who are not trying, I hope they will emulate this because I think it really changes the journey for the patient with dementia and a different unit, the colors, the staff, and the way they address and work with the patient.

The layout of the facility looks so much different. I wish if you had an opportunity one day to actually visit, we're so proud. Take people around and show them exactly what we've done on our butterfly units.

Marc Aiello: Yeah, that'd be lovely.

Dr. Frank Martino: Care of the elderly units are all butterfly units now. The one at Brampton Civic and the one at Etobicoke General is transforming as well. And these are initiatives, innovations that really have made a difference for the difference for our staff and for our patients. Our job is really to keep an eye on the future, really look at what healthcare will be like in 10, 20, 30 years. One area that we're going to start to focus on, and we don't want to be laggers. We want to be leaders in that area is looking at how artificial intelligence actually, how it becomes part of the way we deliver care in the future, harnessing it in an effective way, both in our workflow and in the way we intersect with patients. So our team is going to aggressively look at AI and assess how it can be best harnessed. So I'm looking forward to that with extreme excitement.

Marc Aiello: We spoke a lot about culture today so far, and I wanted to ask, how do you go about building a strong organizational culture, especially one that prioritizes respect and inclusiveness for your staff, patient-centered care, and of course, engagement with the surrounding community?

Dr. Frank Martino: I think culture is what really defines an organization. We at Osler look at people as one of our foundational enablers to our strategic plan and our strategic direction. We are to deliver patient-inspired healthcare without boundaries. To achieve that, you need to have the people component of your organization inspired to provide the best care for both patients and families. We look at where there may be issues with culture, and we're constantly addressing those and assuring that the culture stays paramount in the vision of the organization. If you were to ask me how we support that, we came out of a very difficult pandemic, and through the recovery, we realized that it's important to both provide the resources for staff to be resilient, to engage in health and wellness, and to create a safe and healthy workplace environment, both from a physical, but importantly from a psychological perspective.

So, we are in a no-blame culture and emphasize models of positive behaviours. That is how you achieve quality care. Otherwise, learning from your failures, and I've been reading a book The Right Kind of Wrong by Amy Edmondson that looks at how you learn from failure and not to be afraid of it. And we ask our staff to live in that world of psychological safety so we can have the best and highest quality healthcare for our patients.

Marc Aiello: That sounds superb. I really liked your point. Of course, the whole emphasis on focusing on your people, your people strategy, but particularly the point about looking at those positive behaviours, those behaviour models that you'd like staff to embody and represent. I really like that idea of working with your staff, establishing psychological safety and hearing from them, seeing what they want and recognizing their aspirations. That was a really lovely answer. My next question talks about mentorship. Have you had a mentor or mentors during your career? And if so, is there one piece of advice that has stayed with you?

Dr. Frank Martino: I've had a number, I must say. I'm just thinking about that, and it brings a smile to my face. Well, one mentor once told me, you need to surround your yeses with a lot of no's. You need to focus on the things you know can achieve and do them well and prioritize. Another mentor said, really think about what you want and not what others tell you you should be doing, but what you want to do and then make those appropriate choices. I've been blessed in my life to have chosen a career that I wanted, or I aspired to since I was a child. So I've never really worked because I love my job. So it's never been work for me. And sometimes, you want to do everything, and you should only be doing what you need to do and what you should be doing as opposed to doing everything.

And mentors over the years have helped me focus on the achievable and beyond, and they've been individuals that have taught me. And when I was a research student in Northern Italy, Guido Forni, who is now retired professor of immunology, when I did my research in Turin to colleagues in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Toronto at McMaster University, David Price, David Tannenbaum, Francine Lair and Cal Gutkin who are former CEOs of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, individuals who've watched my career in medical leadership evolve like the former deputy minister Bob Bell who took me to breakfast one day when I was considering the job of CEO of the organization. And said very clearly, "Why wouldn't you do this? And give me the reasons why." Those are the individuals that have inspired me over the years and sort of led and guided my career. All have provided me numerous antidotes and solutions to the challenges that I've faced.

And I'm in huge gratitude. I still remember Matt Anderson taking me to his office one day. I was towards the end of my term as Chief of Family Medicine. He said, "So what do you want to do?" And I started rhyming out some things that probably were things that I hadn't truly considered as future initiatives. And he says, "Well, why don't you become chief of staff?" I said, "I can't be chief of staff." He says, "Of course you can." He said to me, he said, "When I spoke to one of my mentors on who are the possibilities internally for the chief of staff role, you were the first name that came up." And I asked him, "Can a family doctor do this job?"

And I remember Sandy Buchman, who was president of the CMA and the CFPC, said to me once, "You need to be a family doctor to really do this job because you have an understanding of all the other specialties, how important they are and how they intersect." And so I think that was the moment that I realized that it's best not to stay in the gallery, and it's important to go to the front of the room.

Marc Aiello: That sounds like an incredible group of people to look to for inspiration. I've written down what you said at the top of your answer, surround your yeses with a lot of no's in terms of prioritizing and prioritizing your goals and especially when focusing on your career and thinking about things like what's next, and so on.

Philip De Souza: It's Philip here from the production studio. I have a couple of questions actually. I added questions. But no, I really enjoyed your talk. I took lots of notes down. My first question, what's one piece of advice or a couple pieces of advice you would give to either emerging healthcare leaders or just your peers on how you've sustained this amazing culture and how you stay connected to staff?

Dr. Frank Martino: I must say, I think I'm probably advantaged in the fact that I'm a family physician. Family medicine is built on relationships and the narrative, and that's extremely important. Ian McWhinney, many feel is the father of family medicine in Canada was a teacher, a professor of family medicine at the University of Western Ontario, and he spoke about the narrative in the relationships that you need to create to be successful as a family doctor. And also I believe as a leader, creating those relationships with your frontline staff, with your leaders within your organization. And I'm not talking about your executive team, I'm talking about the directors, the managers, the resource nurses, the team leaders, the medical directors, the corporate chiefs, creating those relationships and creating a narrative with them, not for them, not from them, but with them. And that means you need to go almost daily, if not daily, two or three times a week into the wards.

You don't have to be announced. Sometimes it's great if it's organized and you have a few important initiatives or issues you want to talk about, but sometimes just going in saying hello to the clerical associate, to the charge nurse, to the unit nurse, to the physiotherapist, walking into the rehab clinic and talking to them, going into the outpatient department and talking to the staff there, and understanding their challenges. You'll start to see trends, you'll start to see themes, and you can start to work on those with them. And they will have many of the answers you'll need. And I think if I were to give anyone advice is get out of your office. Get out of your and walk. I love walking meetings. If someone wants to have a meeting, I'm starting to get back to that. During the pandemic, I had to stop it.

Philip De Souza: Yes.

Dr. Frank Martino: I'm starting to get back where someone says, "Can I meet with you at 10:30?" I'd say, "Yeah, meet me at my office. We're going to go for a walk."

Philip De Souza: Yeah, I love that.

Dr. Frank Martino: Walk, and I think that's important. That visibility is important, and engagement is extremely important.

Philip De Souza: I love that advice. No, that's really great. I know our listeners will appreciate that. And I know you talked about directing and scriptwriting. You should definitely, when we interviewed Dr. Brian Goldman, he also wrote a script. He sent a script somewhere. So you should definitely connect with Dr. Goldman, and you guys can be a duo, directing duo.

Dr. Frank Martino: Well, you don't know this, but when I was training in family medicine, we had to do a couple of months of community hospital. Though Mount Sinai is not considered a community hospital, it was where we did our community hospital rotation. So I worked with Brian there and Harold Fisher and Eric Letovsky and a good colleague and friend of mine at the time was also one of my teachers, Tim Rutledge from the LIMP.

Philip De Souza: Oh, yeah.

Dr. Frank Martino: And so we maintained those friendships. And so I've been following Brian's career. I must say, I saw some of that back in 1989, 90 when I was training. And I'm so pleased and proud that he's done what he's done.

Philip De Souza: That's fantastic. And I guess my last, I think I heard you right when you said you studied, you went to Italy, you were in the northern Italy and studied, is that what you said earlier?

Dr. Frank Martino: Yes, yes. I did research in tumour immunology. And interestingly, we were working on interleukins. Interleukins are these Cytokines, they're produced by cells, almost humeral products that affect the function of cells and systems. Interleukins at the time were being examined as modulators for cancer treatment. A lot of these are now being used as biologics.

Philip De Souza: Interesting, oh wow.

Dr. Frank Martino: Immune modulators, many are used in cancers like multiple myeloma, but also in skin cancers as melanomas.

Philip De Souza: Did you like your time in Italy, and did you see any differences in the healthcare systems?

Dr. Frank Martino: I think their healthcare system, we have a lot to learn from. I'm a big believer in the single-payer health system, and I know my good colleague, Danielle Martin, will be proud that I'll say this. And I think that our health system is the best in the world, but they have a lot to teach us. Great colleagues still work there. I have a number of cousins who are physicians, a couple of cousins that are pediatricians, a couple that are cardiologists.

Philip De Souza: Very cool.

Dr. Frank Martino: I'm fluent. I was born there, by the way.

Philip De Souza: I had no idea. Where were you born?

Dr. Frank Martino: I was born in a little town back in 1957, San Nicola da Crissa, in southern Italy. I was born at home, delivered by a midwife.

Marc Aiello: Oh, no way.

Philip De Souza: Oh.

Dr. Frank Martino: So I left Italy when I was a child, and then I went back as an MD. So both my wife and I speak Italian, and we love going back. And I'm fluent, so we like going back.

Philip De Souza: And my last question for you is, you mentioned you love to be in the kitchen. Do you have a dish you're known for?

Dr. Frank Martino: Well, my mother made these sort of fried meatballs called Braciole. It was like you take a meatball and you deep-fry it, but instead of round, you make it long, sort of almost oval shape, little longer. Cacio Pepe, pasta aglio e olio, carbonara. So those are some of the dishes that I like to make. I make veal and chicken cutlets, some interesting salads.

Marc Aiello: Oh, my goodness.

Philip De Souza: This sounds delicious.

Marc Aiello: I know, I'm salivating.

Dr. Frank Martino: Some Mediterranean, sea bream and other fish.

Marc Aiello: Now it's time, Dr. Martino, for the lightning round of the interview. I'm going to ask you a series of questions, and you could either answer them with one word, a sentence, or however you want. Really, it's up to you. So the first one is, if you could have one superpower for a day, what would it be and why?

Dr. Frank Martino: Well, I wouldn't call it a superpower. I'd call it the ability to have a transporter like they do on Star Trek. Wouldn't that be great? Or even the other superpower would be able to go forward and back in time.

Marc Aiello: What book or movie would you say helped influence your leadership approach?

Dr. Frank Martino: I think if I could speak to a movie that talked about the human spirit, it would've been Shawshank Redemption.

Marc Aiello: If you weren't working in healthcare, what other career path would you have pursued?

Dr. Frank Martino: Movie director.

Philip De Souza: Oh.

Dr. Frank Martino: Movie director, script writer. Oh, I have a great passion for cinema. Right now, my partner and I are enjoying watching Italian cinema and watched several movies in the last few weeks, but I've always been a big fan of cinema. As a child, I think I always wanted to be an astronaut, to actually go up in space, be weightless, and look at the earth, the stars, and the moon from that vantage point.

Marc Aiello: What would you say is your favourite place to relax and unwind?

Dr. Frank Martino: In the kitchen, I love to cook. And I'm a bit of a foodie, so that would be great. And sometimes just with a book in my oasis, which is my backyard, believe it or not, and just relaxing with family and friends.

Marc Aiello: What's your favourite inspirational quote that keeps you motivated?

Dr. Frank Martino: I don't know if I have a quote. There is something I watch every once in a while, and I think it's Henry V Eve of Saint Crispin's Day. I've sent this to my executive team a couple of times, and it's the speech that Kenneth Branagh gives in the movie to inspire his troops as they head into battle with the French. They're outflanked, and it doesn't look good for them. But he tries to inspire them that they're going to create a legacy in what they do and brings together a sense of camaraderie, esprit de corps. I sometimes listen to that. It's about five minutes long, but it is certainly something that, if you haven't listened to it, I encourage you to do it.

Marc Aiello: I need to check that one out. But I do like that line of create a legacy in what you do. I think that's very powerful and a great way to end this podcast episode. It's been such a privilege chatting with you today and learning more about you, your experience, and what the latest is at Osler. I really, really enjoyed our talk today, and I know our listeners will as well. So, thank you so much again for your time, and we should chat again soon.

Dr. Frank Martino: This was fun, I must say. We'll need to do it again.

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