If you were going to pick one person to epitomize the history of Trillium Health Centre, you need look no farther than Merritt Henderson.
In 1957, Henderson responded to a newspaper advertisement for an accountant. The name of the potential employer wasn't even listed, but it turned out to be a new hospital in what was then the Township of Toronto.
He got the job and in April 1958, several weeks before the first patient was admitted, Henderson joined South Peel Hospital for its launch. He was the accountant and office manager for a financial staff that consisted of just four people.
"Our budget was $450,000," recalled Henderson yesterday with a laugh. Last year, Trillium's budget hit the $400 million mark.
The spanking new building on The Queensway at Hurontario St. was all paid for when Henderson arrived, which was the good news. But there was no money for the operating budget, which was the bad news. Somehow, Henderson cobbled together the funds and the hospital made ends meet.
A few years after he joined Trillium, Henderson became President and CEO when the founding president, Ray Copeland, died suddenly of heart failure. Copeland knew of his heart condition and had already recommended Henderson as his successor to the board should anything happen to him.
Henderson, a tall, quiet, humble, soft-spoken man must have seemed an unlikely choice — on the surface.
In fact, he seemed way too nice a guy to be a CEO. (In 50 years, Trillium has only had five: Copeland, Henderson, Dennis Egan, Ken White and now Janet Davidson.)
Henderson must have been a pretty good CEO, because he held the post for 34 years.
In the way that things have of coming full circle, Henderson is back at Trillium these days — as a patient.
The 76-year-old, who retired in 1994, has Parkinson's disease and has been in the complex continuing care program since last October. It's been a rough patch but Henderson and his wife Frances (seen above with Merritt) are still working on getting him home.
Henderson and the hospital's other founding fathers will be in the spotlight this year as the hospital officially celebrates its 50th anniversary. Queensway Hospital celebrates its 52nd year of existence at the same time and the joint entity they became when they merged in 1998, and now known as Trillium Health Centre, celebrates its 10th anniversary.
From his wheelchair, Henderson recalls some of the hallmarks that made him so successful: regular presentations of the budget to his staff to keep them fully informed about why some tough decisions had to be made (There were layoffs several years towards the end of his career); regular patrolling of the hall so that staff could bend his ear on needs; direct meetings of hospital representatives with ministry personnel ("We fought our battles quietly in the board room. They weren't generous as a result but they were reasonable."); and an open door policy for staff.
A good dose of common sense and compassion for people also helped immeasurably.
"Hospitals are very much a people organization," says Henderson. "There's an historic tension between the medical staff and the administration. If you can handle that, you can survive," he says with a laugh.
"We always treated the staff as a family. By giving them a venue for having their input, there always was a feeling that their voice would be heard. If you can build in an element of that, then half the battle is over."
Merritt Henderson still walks the halls of Trillium these days, or rather scuffles along in his wheelchair with a gentle push. He is met with smiles and greetings everywhere he goes.
The funny thing is, he says, everyone still calls him "Mr. Henderson."
"I could never get them to call me Merritt," he says.
Guess that's small price you have to pay for a big thing called respect.