St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener is now on the search for a new President.
Lee Fairclough, who has been in the position since January 2020, has stepped down in favour of seeking a seat at Queen's Park in the upcoming provincial election.
Fairclough is running as a Liberal in the Toronto-area riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
"Doug Ford's Conservatives' approach to this pandemic has left many of us very concerned, including about the erosion of the public health system in favour of privatization. It isn't right after seeing the extraordinary efforts on the frontline to support care through this pandemic," she said in a release.
"After these two years leading a hospital, I decided it's time to put my name forward to run with a party that believes in building more resilient publicly funded health care."
Sheri Ferguson, the vice-president of quality, people and performance, will take on the role of acting president until a permanent replacement is found.
Ontario Health will be the ones providing information on transitioning regional lead responsibilities.
Fairclough was also the regional lead for COVID-19 response at hospitals in Waterloo-Wellington.
.@LFairclo is a lifelong Etobicoke resident & healthcare leader who is running to stop the Conservative privatization agenda advanced under the cover of COVID. I’m thrilled she'll be on our team as the @OntLiberal candidate for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. #onpoli https://t.co/wOYt6ir1H5
— Steven Del Duca (@StevenDelDuca) April 4, 2022