As far back as Dianne Doyle can remember, she wanted to be a nurse. The outgoing Providence Health Care president and chief executive officer, who is retiring at the end of April, has spent 12 years as the head of the health-care provider and 42 with Providence overall. As Providence’s St. Paul’s Hospital embarks on its massive $1.2 billion move to False Creek Flats – which is expected to take until 2022 – Doyle spoke about her long journey to the health-care provider’s top job.
Doyle remembers reading the Cherry Ames mystery novels as a kid, in which the title character is a crime-solving nurse much like Nancy Drew. Doyle, who was born in 1950 in Kingston, Ontario, said she doesn’t remember a time when she thought about doing anything else as a career.
“Some of my earliest memories of being a child, I somehow knew that I was always going to be a nurse,” said Doyle, who will be replaced by former British health-care executive Fiona Dalton. “So there was something about the [Cherry Ames] books that just reinforced that there were lots of adventures to be had.”
While growing up in Kingston, Doyle first started her hospital career volunteering as a candystriper, delivering water and tea to workers and patients while also working in the gift store. After she graduated from high school in Ottawa in 1969, Doyle completed a four-year degree in nursing at the University of Ottawa.
Suzanne Nixon, an advanced practice nurse at Providence who has known Doyle for approximately 45 years, said she first met Doyle while they were doing their undergraduate nursing degrees at the University of Ottawa. Nixon noted that even that far back, she could see Doyle was moulding herself for bigger things.
“I could see her capabilities and aspirations of leadership as president of the nursing student body at [the University of Ottawa] for several years.”
Nixon added that Doyle’s personality has always been one of caregiver and educator – bringing a human touch to the top job at Providence.
“Her facial expression reflects welcome and openness and usually includes a wide smile. Her comments and questions reflect her curiosity about the discussion or situation.”
After Doyle graduated in 1973, she took a job in the intensive care unit at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria at the age of 23. She said the move west was spurred by a number of things, but it was mainly to bring about a sense of adventure and change to her life and career. Doyle got engaged at the age of 21; however, the relationship was “on again, off again,” she said.
“So I thought to myself, let me put 4,000 miles between the two of us, and so off I went, and that was another motivator.”
Doyle spent three years in Victoria before heading to the University of British Columbia (UBC) to complete her master’s degree in nursing, starting in 1976. It was at this point she reached an inflection point: she could continue being a nurse, start teaching full time or look into climbing the corporate ladder.
“I was thinking as I completed my master’s that I was going to teach, but somewhere along the way, I came to believe that I could make a bigger impact in nursing and health care if I were in a management job. So by the end of doing my master’s at UBC, I turned my attention to finding a management job.”
Doyle also started working at St. Paul’s in the intensive care unit when she began her master’s in 1976, and after graduation she became the hospital’s head nurse in 1981.
“It was in many ways the best job of my career, because I was given the opportunity to set up a brand-new unit, what is known as a cardiac teaching unit, so for heart patients before and after they were in critical care areas. And I got to hire all my own staff, write the orientation program and deliver it, and write a patient education program, which became an integral part of how we provided care for patients of that unit.”
St. Paul’s Hospital’s history dates back to 1843, when Mother Émilie Gamelin founded the Sisters of Providence in Montreal. St. Paul’s began as a 25-bed compassionate care hospital in 1894, named after both Paul Durieu, the first bishop of New Westminster, and St. Paul. Now St. Paul’s (located at 1081 Burrard Street) is an acute care, teaching and research facility that delivers care for approximately 380,000 patients from across the province each year. The last major infrastructure project to be completed on the site was the erection of its second 10-storey tower in 1991.
In 1985 Doyle went from St. Paul’s to Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, becoming the assistant executive director for patient care services. It was here Doyle saw the ultimate amalgamation of all hospitals across the province into specific regional health authorities. This included Providence Health Care, which was formed through the consolidation of CHARA Health Care Society, Holy Family Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital in 1997. Providence Health Care became a single legal entity in 2000 and now provides health-care services via eight sites in Vancouver.
During the merger Doyle moved to Saint Vincent’s: Langara – now a complex-care residential facility – acting as the chief executive officer for the first phase of the merger that would ultimately birth Providence.
“That was my first opportunity to be CEO, and to report to a board,” she said.
In 2000, Doyle returned to St. Paul’s Hospital as a vice-president, serving in that role until 2005. She then took the top job at Providence officially in 2006.
Looking back on her career and forward to her retirement at the end of April, Doyle said she will continue to be involved in the health-care sector, which could involve volunteer nursing.
“Once a nurse at heart, always a nurse at heart,” she said. “I feel comfortable and I still feel drawn to helping individuals.” •
Inside information: Dianne Doyle
Currently reading:
What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton. I think we need to critically examine significant decisions and world events to understand the factors behind them and incorporate the lessons
First album bought:
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles. It was such an expression of creativity
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
I always knew I would be a nurse. I was drawn to a desire to help others
Profession you would most like to try:
I would have liked an opportunity to be a politician, but I fear the realities and complexities of public life can be harsh
Toughest business or professional decision:
The personnel decisions are always the hardest as your actions impact someone else’s life and career
Advice you would give the younger you:
Don’t forget to sing and dance and play. We need to develop skills in our youth that give us enjoyment and nurturing as adults
What’s left to do:
In health care the work is never done! For me, my next focus will be on volunteering. I want to give back to the community
