2024-05-04 05:00:00
A titanic task awaits Gun Top appointed head of the new Santé Québec agency. Those who know her praise her as a unified manager who managed the family business admirably, but who was little prepared for the enormity she would face.
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“She is a woman of conviction […] focused on results, who knows how to surround herself well, but who is still accessible and enters the field,” says Caroline Biron, about her sister, Geneviève Biron.
At the age of 54, Geneviève Biron is the youngest of three daughters. She grew up in Saint-Lambert, on the South Shore, in a “close-knit family” who enjoyed spending time together on camping or golf trips.
Caroline Biron, who succeeded her as CEO of Biron Groupe Santé in 2021, is convinced that her little sister has all the qualities to undertake this mandate.
“A huge step”
However, the choice of Geneviève Biron to lead Hydro-Québec‘s health equivalent surprised more than one person.
“It’s a huge step,” says former Health Minister Gaétan Barrette.
So the businesswoman will move from a medium-sized company with 960 non-union employees to the huge health network, which brings together 300,000 workers affiliated with different unions.
Her appointment also raised ethical questions regarding her links to the private sector and the fact that her partner, Sylvain Poirier, is a strategic adviser to the health network.
New restrictions
Gaétan Barrette met Ms. Biron as a minister, but also as president of the Society of Radiologists in the 2000s.
Geneviève Biron, in 2020, still managing the family business, at the Brossard head office.
Ben Pelosse / GoM
“He’s a serious, thoughtful, analytical person,” he says. He did not see her coming to negotiations “with big shoes” for example, describing her instead as a reasonable negotiator.
At Santé Québec, however, he will have to face constraints that did not exist in the private company, he says.
A colleague of five years within Biron, Jean-François Rioux, praises his “openness” as a manager. “He is someone who consults all the stakeholders before making a decision,” explains the president of Medioh.
“But this great openness means that the analysis takes time,” he says with a smile, not seeing a flaw.
Having worked with her at the beginning of her career, entrepreneur Philippe Boisclair believes that Geneviève Biron, known for her listening skills and her ability to motivate people, will be able to improve the public network.
Photo by Stevens Leblanc
“I have the ambition to be able to offer Quebecers the health system they deserve,” insisted Ms. Biron last Monday.
Private vs public
The Consultant for Biron Groupe Santé, Dr. Marc Steben, praises the “Biron culture”, which focuses on fast and high-quality customer service, and believes that the health network could take inspiration from it.
But with this appointment, the Quebec Doctors for the Public Plan (MQRP) group is concerned about the importance given to the private sector.
Citing various studies on this subject, Dr Camille Pelletier Vernooy emphasizes that the private sector will increase prices and lower the quality of care. “Despite more and more offers from the private sector, services for citizens are not better,” she reflects about the last years of the Legault government.
– With the collaboration of Gabriel Côté
Geneviève Biron at the head of Santé Québec
- 1990: Geneviève Biron was appointed director of human resources at Biron Groupe Santé, then vice-president of operations in 1998.
- She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management from HEC Montréal and trained at the London Business School and at McGill University.
- 2005: Launches Imagix, a network of medical imaging clinics.
- 2014: She succeeds her sister, Ève-Lyne, as President and CEO of Biron Groupe Santé
- 2021: President of Propulia Capital, an investment platform for entrepreneurs
- 2024: Appointed CEO of the new Santé Québec agency with an annual salary of $652,050 for the first two years.
- She will be supported by Frédéric Abergel (president and CEO of CHUM) appointed as executive vice-president of operations and transformation of Santé Québec.
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