That’s a drop of nearly half after the implementation of an Excellence Canada program
Health Sciences North is managing to keep more of its people, according to a recent report.
With a team of over 4,400, and serving more than 557,000 people across Northeastern Ontario, HSN said it has reduced employee turnover from over 15 percent to approximately eight percent over three years, nearly cutting the rate in half, without launching a single new wellness program.
Instead, HSN stopped adding initiatives and started intentionally connecting the ones it already had, said a press release.
The approach, initiated in partnership with Excellence Canada, is the subject of a new paper: Connecting the Dots: Beyond Programs: How Excellence Canada is Supporting Health Sciences North as They Build a Culture of Connection.
The paper, part of Excellence Canada’s Executive Insights Series, offers a replicable model for other organization.
Like most hospitals, HSN had invested in wellness initiatives, engagement surveys, occupational health and safety programs accreditation, leadership development and patient experience tracking.
But they operated in silos, with separate committees, separate champions, and separate reporting, creating what staff described as “initiative overload.”
“Sometimes we forget what we do really well, but also where we need alignment,” said Julie Dénommé, director of people, safety and development at HSN, in a press release.
In 2025, HSN adopted the Excellence Canada Healthy Workplace Standard as an integration framework, a structure for connecting what already existed under a single system of governance, accountability and continuous improvement.
A diagnostic assessment confirmed HSN already had approximately 60 to 70 percent of the required elements in place.
By aligning accreditation, safety, wellness, and employee engagement under one framework and embedding healthy workplace accountability directly into leadership performance management, HSN began to see measurable shifts:
Employee turnover fell from over 15 per cent to approximately eight per cent over three years.
Workplace violence incidents declined significantly, with improved staff reporting confidence.
Absenteeism decreased and workforce stability improved.
Early data shows improving patient experience scores.
Staff and leaders increasingly describe wellness, safety, and accreditation as parts of a single strategy rather than competing demands.
In November 2025, HSN received the Canada Award for Excellence at the Essentials/Silver Level, national external third-party validation of its foundational systems.
“We really came to the conclusion that it’s about empowering people,” said Jessica Diplock, vice president, people and culture at HSN.
“The Healthy Workplace Standard gave us a common framework to connect the important work already happening across our organization. Instead of asking people to engage with another initiative, we helped them see how everything fit together.”
Leadership transparency was central to the shift. CEO David McNeil made a culture of trust and open communication the norm and tied accountability for healthy workplace outcomes directly to performance management systems, said the press release.
“If you don’t have structures and processes in place, it doesn’t matter what your behavioural approach is,” said McNeil. “Culture change isn’t about launching more programs. It’s about creating systems that connect people, priorities, and purpose. When those systems align, trust grows and performance follows.”
The paper draws on extensive interviews with HSN physicians, nurses, patient and family advisors, frontline staff, and senior leaders, and is written for executives, HR leaders, and health-care decision-makers facing similar challenges.
“Health Sciences North’s story demonstrates that excellence is not achieved by doing more. It is achieved by connecting what matters most,” said Sean Slater, president and CEO of Excellence Canada.
“When wellness, safety, engagement, and organizational strategy intentionally align under a shared framework, culture becomes a measurable driver of performance, resilience, and long-term success.”
The full paper, Connecting the Dots, is available at excellence.ca/hsn-executive-insights.