Bill Marra to take over Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare CEO position effective Saturday

Bill Marra and Janice Kaffer. (Courtesy Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare)

Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare’s new president and CEO will be taking over the position sooner than expected.

Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) board of directors announced on Nov. 1 that Janice Kaffer, president and CEO would be retiring and that Bill Marra, the hospital’s vice president of people, mission, communications and corporate affairs would be taking over the role.

While the transition was expected no later than March 31, 2022, the board of directors made the decision to advance the planned transition to Saturday, Jan. 1.

Over the coming months HDGH officials say Kaffer will be supporting Marra and the board of directors as an advisor.

“As Bill prepares to step into his new role as President and CEO, he speaks for our entire organization and community when he says that Janice will be missed,” the release said. “Through an open door and determined focus to upload the key values of our organization, there is immense confidence in the leadership HDGH will receive from Bill going forward.”

The hospital made the decision in an effort to "facilitate a single leadership voice" in managing the surge of Omicron.

“I have a 40-year history with the hospital,” Marra said.

Marra was hired, at 16, to work in the dietary department, a job he says helped pay for his university education.

“It allowed me to pay for my education and actually supported my family for a period of time because in the early 80's the economy bottomed out in this community and I was in a good position to work and help support my family and my father who lost his job in the auto industry,” he says.

Marra then served for five years on the board of directors between 2003 and 2008. At that time, the hospital was under provincial supervision in the wake of the death of Lori Dupont inside the Ouellette site.

Marra is a former Executive Director of New Beginnings and a former Windsor City Councillor, until he joined HGDH as Vice President.

Those challenging times, Marra says, in addition to nearly 25 years in senior leadership roles, have helped him prepare for this new challenge.

“I’m going to continue to adhere, very strongly, to the principals of our founders, from over a 130 years ago,” he said. “The priority is our patients and our people.”

Marra says they are also slowly working on some other “exciting” projects that are under development which he hopes can move forward when the pandemic eases.

“We heard the Premier here a couple of months ago, talk about the 68-bed mental health bed transfer to our campus,” he says. “We’re preparing for that. We have been in discussions with the Ministry around our interest to build and operate a long-term care facility on our campus, those are still very early discussions.”

Marra says he never hesitated to take over, during a pandemic, and plans to retire from Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, whether its five years, or ten years from now.

“Not intimidated. Not worried,” says Marra. “Even with Janice Kaffer leaving, she continues to be a mentor and a support to me. I’m really confident going forward, we will be successful.”