Dr. Paul Woods is a senior healthcare leader with a wide range of clinical and executive experience in both Canada and the United States, highly regarded for his proven ability to lead positive change in complex environments.
Prior to joining Southlake, Paul served as the President & CEO of London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), one of Canada’s leading academic hospitals, where he led the organization to achieve Exemplary Standing with Accreditation Canada for the first time in 12 years. Under his leadership, LHSC opened Ontario’s first publicly owned ambulatory surgery centre, as well as an Office of Health Equity through a new Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategy. While working state-side as Senior Vice President at the not-for-profit system Trinity Health in Michigan, Paul led strategies that improved quality of care as well as enhanced patient and provider experience.
Through strong engagement with physicians, nurses and other clinicians, he implemented successful initiatives at Trinity to serve more patients and improve health outcomes while promoting sustainability.
Paul has also held various other leadership roles in the health system including at Alberta Health Services, the University of Calgary’s Department of Family Medicine, and the Michigan Center for Clinical Systems Improvement. His insights have been sought through Board appointments, most recently as President of the Board of Directors for Trinity Health Coordinated Care, a four state Accountable Care Organization. He has also served as a Board member of Chicago Mercy Hospital, the first chartered hospital in Chicago which focuses on serving disadvantaged populations.
Originally from Ontario, Paul obtained his medical degree from Western University after attending high school in Newmarket. He received his Master of Science degree from the Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the world-renowned Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. A father of four adult children, Paul is married to Dr. Kristen Woods, a physician executive and business coach. He enjoys staying active with his two German Shepherds, cycling, playing hockey and golf.
Day 1: Dec 5, 2023
4:00 pm
CASE STUDY: THE CULTURE OF DATA
Why Strategy Alone isn’t Enough
Ontario’s health system is at an inflection point. For decades, hospitals have absorbed capacity gaps across the continuum-an unsustainable “catch-all” that produces poor integrated care experiences and outcomes. Changing this hospital-first culture demands more than a plan: it requires systems thinking, strategic foresight, and a data-driven culture that moves decisions closer to the point of care. It also requires establishing a common collective vision and successful data initiatives through trust, empowerment and leadership at every level.
This case study explores how a single, composite metric termed Population Avoidable Days (PAD) is helping to unify leaders, clinicians, and partners around a shared “True North” focused on reducing inpatient bed days that don’t need to be in hospital.
You’ll leave with practical solutions on how to:
- Translate data into daily behaviours, align incentives across the ecosystem, and demonstrate how Learning-Health System practices turn insight into sustained action.
- Leverage absolute (not relative) measures like PAD to motivate improvements by frontline teams.
- Uphold patient-centered care when perceptions conflict with core values.
- Navigate structural barriers and system limitations to desired outcomes
Grow a culture that reliably turns evidence into practice, and practice into freed capacity and improved outcomes.
Day 2: Dec 6, 2023
