Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer
The Human Resources (HR) portfolio, led by the Chief Human Resources Officer Mike Northcott, partners with employees to foster an engaging, healthy and productive workforce. HR provides the expertise and services to create capacity, empowering managers to focus on leading their people, understanding their business and improving their processes. HR coordinates the volunteer workforce of over 25,000 individuals supporting patient and family centered care across the province. In total, Executive Leadership and Senior Leadership for HR is comprised of six members, who are geographically located across the province.
Mike Northcott - Chief Human Resources Officer
Mike Northcott is Saskatchewan Health Authority's Chief Human Resources Officer. Mike and his team are responsible for all human resource operations and professionals to ensure that the organization attracts, develops and retains the best health care professionals for the province of Saskatchewan.
Mike joined the former Saskatoon Health Region in 2007 and played a key role in the strategic direction of the region’s human resource functions. Throughout his career in human resources, Mike has served in various leadership positions in health care in Saskatchewan and Alberta, most recently as the Director of Human Resources for the former Saskatoon Health Region. Mike holds a Masters of Human Resources Management from the University of Regina. He also has a Bachelor of Science Kinesiology Degree and a Bachelor of Commerce, both from the University of Saskatchewan.
Mike is passionate about leadership and is a graduate of the Saskatchewan Leadership Program, the Queens Leadership Program and is a certified Lean Leader. He believes that the most important job a leader has is developing more leaders. He has served as the co-chair of the Joint Health Human Resources Committee, as a member of the Health Labour Relations Counsel and a member of the Provincial Health Authority Transition Team. Currently, Mike serves on the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) Board of Directors, and is a member of the Learning/Education Advisory Group for HealthCareCAN, an advisory body helping to shape professional development opportunities and resources for healthcare leadership across Canada.
Mike Edge - Executive Director, Staff Safety
Since 2014, Mike Edge has worked in various Human Resources roles within the SHA. Mike comes to the new role of Executive Director of Staff Safety from his previous position of Director, Human Resource Business Partnerships – Urban Saskatoon. As a Director, he was responsible for supporting and growing the HR Business Partnership portfolio by providing HR support to executive and senior leadership teams throughout the SHA. In this position Mike also contributed to strategic initiatives such as organization redesign, health network implementation, and the COVID-19 response. Mike was also previously seconded to the AIMS (Administrative Information Management System) project, in which he supported the Project Management Office and the Business Design Authority in the development and execution of strategic plans to achieve project goals. The Staff Safety portfolio is committed to providing guidance, direction, education, and mentorship to enhance the Health and Safety and continuous improvement of everyday practices, and in the work environment.
Prior to joining the SHA, Mike worked as an Emergency Medical Technician and for Cameco’s Safety, Health, Radiation, Environment, and Quality portfolio. His work focused on maintaining and enhancing the radiation safety program while collaborating with provincial inspectors and federal regulators to ensure safety processes and reporting systems were used effectively.
Mike is a graduate from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Science: Toxicology degree, and from Queens University with a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). In addition to his leadership ability and passion for promoting safety and wellness in healthcare, Mike brings a vast knowledge of the technical aspects of our HR systems and processes.
Shelley Lofstrom - Executive Director, Workforce Planning and Employment Strategies
As Executive Director of Workforce Planning and Employment Strategies (WPES), Shelley and the WPES team are responsible for provincial workforce planning, employment strategies, recruitment/talent acquisition, compensation and classification and volunteer services. Shelley has worked in health care for over 20 years; starting her career in community rehabilitation and transitioning to leadership positions within the former Saskatoon Health Region including Manager Volunteer Services, Manager Workforce Planning and Employment, Director Human Resources and within the Saskatchewan Health Authority as Director Workforce Planning and Employment Strategies (Urban).
Shelley approaches systems and challenges from a lens of continuous improvement and strives to align human resources initiatives with business strategy to improve performance, quality, safety and engagement. Shelley is a Graduate of University of Regina Masters of Human Resource Management, University of Saskatchewan Commerce - Business Administration, Saskatchewan Polytechnic Rehabilitation Diploma and is a Lean Leader. Shelley believes in implementing positive change, building strong working relationships and translating vision into actionable, sustainable outcomes. Shelley is passionate about leading a team that will support the SHA in providing high quality care and delivery to the residents of Saskatchewan.
Kyle Matthies - Executive Director, Organizational Development and Employee Wellness
As the Executive Director of Organizational Development and Employee Wellness, Kyle Matthies will lead the portfolio’s organizational and leadership development, healthy workplace, return to works, accommodations, attendance management, succession planning and staff orientation. In his previous role as Vice President, People and Quality for the former Five Hills Health Region, Kyle was responsible for Human Resources, Communications, Continuous Improvement, Occupational Health, Patient and Staff Safety and Patient and Family-Centred Care.
Through projects such as the design and development of the new Regional Hospital in Moose Jaw, Kyle has had the opportunity to experience the importance of building relationships and working collaboratively with patients, families, staff and physicians, in order to ensure the safe delivery of quality health care services. He graduated from the University of Winnipeg with a Bachelor of Education and is a certified and practicing Lean Leader.
Kyle’s passion for servant leadership allows him to focus on building collaborative relationships based on trust and mutual purpose. He recognizes that a confident, competent and highly engaged workforce is key to meeting the health care needs of Saskatchewan patients and families. Kyle looks forward to working collaboratively with staff and physicians across the Province to help make the Saskatchewan Health Authority one of Canada’s top employers.
Brenda Scholer - Executive Director, Human Resources Business Partnerships
Brenda Scholer comes to her new role as Executive Director of Human Resources (HR) Business Partnerships from her previous position of Interim Vice President of Human Resources for the former Heartland Health Region where she was responsible for Labour Relations, Recruitment and Retention, Ability Management, Payroll, Scheduling, Staff Development and Staff Safety services. The HR Business Partnerships portfolio will provide business support to leaders across the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Brenda's 20 year health care career began with a Labour Relations Coordinator role in the Midwest Health District in 1997 and progressed to a Director of HR role when the former Heartland Health Region began. Brenda has also served on provincial teams as a co-chair of the Labour Relations Leadership Team and the Labour Relations Strategy Team to support transition to the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Brenda is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan Bachelor of Commerce program and has a Master of Arts in Leadership degree from Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia. Brenda is passionate about patient-centered care and committed to an approach to HR Business Partnerships that values the people who provide care.
Kweku Johnson - Interim Executive Director, Staff Services
Kweku Johnson is the Interim Executive Director of Staff Services at the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), leading a team responsible for payroll, scheduling, benefits, analytics, the Human Resource Information System, and the HR call center. Kweku joined the SHA in May of 2008 and has over 15 years of experience in Human Resources. He is passionate about leveraging technology to build systems that streamline workflows, reduce complexity, and improve business processes, enabling staff to focus on people-centered work.
In his previous role as Director of Human Resource Systems and Analytics, Kweku guided the implementation of key HR technologies that transformed workforce management across the SHA. His hands-on experience has reinforced his belief that effective processes and technology should always serve to empower the people using them.
Kweku has worked with education institutions, federal government and private industry in Labour Relations, Recruitment and HR Systems. In these roles, he has worked closely with teams in labour relations and scheduling, where he developed solutions that improved both employee satisfaction and operational performance.
He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Institute of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies from the University of Saskatchewan. His belief that leadership is about creating an environment where people and processes work in harmony is deeply rooted in his educational background and professional experience.
Kweku looks forward to serving the interests of staff and those they care for through innovation and making systems work better for everyone involved.
Kevin Zimmerman - Executive Director, Labour and Employee Relations
Kevin Zimmerman has accepted the position of Executive Director of Labour and Employee Relations effective March 14, 2018. The portfolio for this position includes collective bargaining support, labour and employee relations, and providing strategic direction related to labour relation impacts on business and operational objectives.
Kevin has been a practicing member of the Law Society of Saskatchewan since 2000. He has been practicing law within healthcare labour relations for over 15 years while employed by SAHO and the former Saskatoon Regional Health Authority. As Legal Counsel he has been involved in collective bargaining negotiations, has provided legal opinions to healthcare employers across the Province of Saskatchewan, and represented employers at labour arbitrations, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board.
Kevin is excited to work closely with Saskatchewan Health Authority leaders, the Labour and Employee Relations Management team and all unions to ensure labour relations can support operational plans and align with organizational strategies to better serve our patients. He has had the opportunity to work with many labour relations professionals in Saskatchewan and looks forward to continuing these relationships.