Don Shilton

Faculty

Don Shilton has been the president at St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada since 2010.  Shortly after becoming president he and his Board unveiled an ambitious new vision for St. Mary’s to become “the safest and most effective hospital in Canada characterized by innovation, compassion and respect.”  The Board agreed to use Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio (HSMR) as the overall indicator for safety.

Under Don’s leadership, St. Mary’s began implementing lean in 2011.  As with many lean implementations St. Mary’s started strong and then began to struggle.  In 2013, they engaged KPMG and Kim Barnas to assist with board and executive coaching and to help implement a Lean Management System (LMS). In 2016, St. Mary’s achieved the lowest Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio in Canada for the second time in five years leading some in the media to call St. Mary’s, “the safest hospital in Canada.”

The St. Mary’s Board has also embraced lean thinking.  They start all Board meetings with a Board member-led huddle and they regularly gemba walk throughout the hospital to better understand the connection between organizational strategy and front line work.

Don is a Respiratory Therapist who holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Waterloo and an MBA in Health Services Management from McMaster University.