Windsor Regional Hospital to launch CEO search as Musyj stays in London, Riddell to retire

Windsor Regional Hospital Ouellette Campus' emergency department seen on Aug. 30, 2024 in Windsor, Ont. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor)

Windsor Regional Hospital will start a recruitment process for the next CEO later this summer.

The hospital board chair Ian McLeod announced Wednesday that past President and CEO David Musyj won’t be returning to the role and interim CEO Karen Riddell will start her pre-planned retirement in March of 2026.

Musyj, who was seconded to London Health Sciences Centre more than a year ago to lead that organization through ongoing operational and fiscal challenges, confirmed to the board Wednesday that he will not be returning to WRH.

Following consultation with Ontario’s Minister of Health, it has been decided that Musyj will be staying on at LHSC for an extended period of.

“On behalf of the Board, I want to give a sincere thanks to David for his many years of dedication to our hospital, our patients and our community at large. We are fortunate to know that David will continue to be a strong advocate for our new hospital project and will continue to be involved in discussions regarding this generational project as it moves towards becoming a reality,” said McLeod.

David offered the following statement for the WRH team:

“As you know, my Windsor team is close to my heart. I want to sincerely thank the Board, leadership team, staff at Windsor Regional Hospital, and Windsor-Essex residents for their unwavering support throughout my career. I have had an exceptional journey at WRH and will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that Windsor’s new hospital becomes a reality,” said Musyj.

Riddell stepped in as acting president and CEO in Musyj’s absence while also continuing her role as Chief Nursing Executive.

“Once again, with mixed emotions, now that David’s decision is final, we can confirm that Karen’s pre-planned retirement from WRH will occur no later than March 31st, 2026. Karen has been an exceptional leader for WRH in both her past and present roles and we will greatly miss her talents, her compassion for nursing and her dedication to her colleagues, patients and families over several decades,” said McLeod.

McLeod said given the leadership changes, WRH will initiate a recruitment process for a new president and CEO, as well as separately for a new Chief Nursing Executive and vice president, later this summer. In the interim, Karen continues to serve as acting president and CEO of WRH, pending her planned retirement in the spring of 2026.