Quach-Thanh to replace Boileau as Quebec’s public health director

Dr. Luc Boileau is being replaced by Caroline Quach-Thanh as Quebec's new public health director. (Source: CTV News/Foundation CHU Sainte-Justine)

Dr. Luc Boileau is leaving his role as Quebec’s director of public health before the end of his four-year mandate.

The provincial health ministry announced Wednesday that Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at Montreal’s Sainte-Justine Hospital, will be his successor.

Her appointment is effective Sept. 29.

Boileau was appointed to the role on an interim basis in January 2022, replacing interim public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Omicron variant was spreading and causing widespread infections and hospitalizations in Quebec. He was a familiar face during press conferences about the province’s response to the health crisis.

He was officially appointed as public health director in June 2022. His mandate was due to end in 2026.

The health ministry said Quach-Thanh was chosen following nomination process that started in the spring and wrapped up in June.

“I would like to thank Dr. Boileau for all his work over the past few years, particularly during the pandemic and, more recently, in developing the first-ever national health prevention strategy,” Health Minister Christian Dubé said in a statement.

“I am very grateful to have been able to count on his expertise and valuable contribution over the past few years.”

With her appointment, the health ministry said Quach-Thanh also assumes the role of assistant deputy minister for prevention and public health at the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

Quach-Thanh also appeared in COVID-19 press conferences during the pandemic to share her knowledge of infectious diseases.

She started her career at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and McGill University’s Department of Pediatrics from 2003 to 2016, before she pursued her career as a professor in Departments of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases, Immunology and Pediatrics at the Université de Montréal.

She has also served as chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization of the Public Health Agency of Canada and is the current chair of the Quebec Immunization Committee.

“I am convinced that she will be able to advise and guide the teams with leadership and passion,” Dubé said of the new public health director.

“Prevention is at the heart of our strategic vision for a healthy Quebec, and as part of her mandate as National Director of Public Health, Dr Quach-Thanh will contribute to continuing efforts in this direction.”

In a post on X, Premier François Legault also added: “Thank you to Dr. Boileau for his tremendous work and valuable advice, especially during the pandemic!

Boileau recently caused a stir after an online video surfaced showing him in a verbal altercation with a man on an electric scooter in downtown Montreal. In the video, the man can be heard taunting Boileau, while the public health director responds with strong language and criticizes the rider’s dangerous behaviour.

Boileau later apologized for his comments.