Boiling Point - Episode 062 - Dr. Marc Pelletier

The “Heart” of Leadership

Introducing Dr. Marc Pelletier

Entrepreneurial skills are not exclusive to those who run their own businesses.  In fact, a lot can be learned from the leadership of non-entrepreneurs.  Dr. Marc Pelletier is a great example of this.  Marc is a native New Brunswicker and an expert cardiac surgeon.  Marc moved back to New Brunswick a few years ago to pursue a better work/life balance after stints in Halifax, Montreal, Stanford University, and Toronto.  His new role is Head of Cardiac Surgery at the New Brunswick Heart Centre.  

As a leader in the New Brunswick health care system, Marc position blurs the line between doctor, civil servant, and businessman in order to reach the best outcomes for both his patients and the government’s wallet.  His ability to interchangeably switch his thinking from doctor to businessperson has allowed more and better surgeries to take place in the province.  Taking the business approach he learned in the American health care system, Marc has been able to encourage the government to hire more nurses and doctors instead of shipping patients to other provinces at a cost of $3 million annually.  This episode is a great one to listen to for anyone looking to use the entrepreneurial mindset at whatever task they are looking to take on.

In this episode

• We are pleased to announce that CBC’s Dragon’s Den blog has named us one of the top eight entrepreneur podcasts.  Thanks to Andrew Miller for bringing this to our attention.
• We hear about Marc’s background as a cardiac surgeon.
• We draw parallels between the entrepreneurial space and healthcare management.
• Marc gives us an anecdote of how he was able to conduct more surgeries in New Brunswick in a cost neutral fashion, but allow for more healthcare workers in the province.
• He also discusses the transition from practitioner to leader and what that meant to him personally.
• Marc discusses the benefits of implementing facets of the privatized system to our public system without “throwing the baby out with the bath water.”
• There is a discussion that more “business skills” need to be taught to those who may not be headed toward a stereotypical “business” job.
• Marc also brings up the benefits and drawbacks of both the Canadian and American healthcare systems and what it means to an ambitious or entrepreneurial-minded doctor in Canada. 
• Greg notes that there are exciting opportunities when you have to be creative to hurdle limitations and constraints of a system.
• Dave hopes there are more healthcare leaders like Marc who both care about their patients and are also mindful on dollars and cents.

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