Elizabeth Tanguay (MHA ’21): A career journey into healthcare management

Elizabeth Tanguay (MHA ’21) is an esteemed healthcare executive who discovered the Master of Health Administration program at Telfer when she was exploring continuing education.

From an early age, Tanguay was interested in making an impact in healthcare. Tanguay was first exposed to the healthcare system through her family, with both of her grandfathers being doctors and her paternal grandmother being a nurse. One of her grandfathers, Gérald LaSalle, played an instrumental role in establishing Quebec's health system and founded the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Sherbrooke, where a new pavilion was named in his honour in 2009.

Establishing a career in healthcare business development

After earning a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Université Laval in 2002, Tanguay started her career in Quebec City.

She first held positions in product marketing and sales with Stryker, an American healthcare technology company offering products and services for surgical, neurotechnological, orthopaedic and spinal needs. Stryker provides medical devices, data solutions, hygiene products, patient transportation equipment, patient positioning products and more. 

Tanguay led national marketing campaigns, attended tradeshows, developed products, and visited long-term care facilities across Canada. She then moved into orthopaedics, selling medical devices and implants for Stryker to orthopaedic surgeons. Tanguay experienced emergency, hospital, and surgical settings, even conducting cadaver surgery in intensive training to deepen her understanding of the solutions she was selling. 

Tanguay says her eight years at Stryker helped shape her unique skill set, as it “instilled a very strong work ethic in [her], including strong discipline and attention to detail.” She developed a passion for healthcare and a commitment to community, leading toward her transition into healthcare management.

Finding her way to the MHA

Leaving Stryker in 2007, Tanguay grew her expertise and experience in public relations, business development, influence management, brand communication and consulting over the next 10 years. She held various roles at Johnson & Johnson, Cohn & Wolfe, Novartis, and more, building up her experience at organizations specializing in orthopaedics, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, consulting, and public relations, all in the private sector. She also pursued additional education, earning a degree in digital communications and media from McGill University in 2016.

In 2018, Tanguay started consulting for Exponentiel Conseil, which led her to discover Telfer's Master of Health Administration program. Drawn by Telfer's healthcare management education, she met with the MHA program director and joined in 2019 to advance her knowledge in the field.

Building health system knowledge and a network in healthcare management

During her studies, Tanguay pivoted to work in public administration around two years after she had her son. In 2020, she became Chair of the Board of Directors at the Glebe Parents’ Day Care, an early childhood service cooperative, leading efforts to provide high-quality childcare services during the pandemic.

Tanguay can attest to the MHA program’s ability to shape careers and enable individuals to make a difference in healthcare. Tanguay greatly benefitted from the MHA curriculum, supportive faculty, residency program, and networking opportunities. She highly valued her professors’ diverse perspectives and expertise. She also heard from academic and industry guest speakers. Her professors encouraged her and her peers to ask questions to expand their understanding of the healthcare system. “I felt like my perspectives were broadened in so many directions,” she says.

Before starting the MHA, Tanguay says she didn’t even understand how the Canadian health systems were orchestrated. She now knows plenty about it and much more. “The MHA enabled me to do that, and completely accelerated my career towards roles where I can generate a real impact for my community,” she says.

Tanguay challenged herself both in and outside the classroom. She engaged in valuable conversations with healthcare professionals. “The MHA allowed me to have that level of sophistication, and my understanding of health systems, where I can support strategic conversations and collaborations,” she says. 

From day one, when Tanguay met leaders at a Telfer MHA event, she would reach out to them and ask to meet. “Throughout my master’s, I’ve met with countless influencers and gained mentors and sponsors. I was very engaged with the individuals we would meet,” she says. “I am on a first-name basis with most CEOs of this town — not just of hospitals, but of many organizations from other sectors. It was really a catalyst and game changer for me and put me on the right path.”

Tanguay recommends that future Telfer MHA students take advantage of the networking opportunities available in the program to practice pitching themselves. Her active networking was particularly important in earning the leadership role she has today. She also since heard of the program’s positive reputation amongst the healthcare community: “When you say ‘MHA,’ people know what it is, and they say ‘Telfer,’ and they know it’s high quality.”

The MHA residency and field project opportunity 

One of the reasons Tanguay chose the MHA at Telfer was for the residency/field project experience. She completed her field project with Hôpital Montfort. She had incredible access to former Montfort CEO Dr. Bernard Leduc, and met with as many individuals as possible, including the hospital’s board members and other CEOs. Tanguay had incredible access to Dr. Leduc’s calendar, and she learned a lot from him. He remains a mentor to her.

Tanguay worked on a project on integrated governance, a topic that she says intrigues senior executives. She would also meet with Guy Chartrand, the president and CEO of the Bruyère network and health systems advocate with more than 23 years of senior leadership experience. Her field project further positioned her for a successful career in healthcare management.

The MHA program opened doors for her in the healthcare sector ultimately enabling Tanguay to take on a leadership position in systems design. In 2021, while still an MHA student, she became the Director of the Archipel Ontario Health Team (OHT), working with a network of partner organisations and community representatives. Archipel, a combination of the Ottawa East and Prescott Russell teams, is one of 58 OHTs mandated by the Ministry of Health to support the integration of Ontario’s health system.

Tanguay says, “I had offers after (my field project)...but I wanted to stick to and respect the people who had invested in me, so I came to OHT. In my first year, we closed a merger of two OHTs, now Archipel; it was recently one of the first OHTs to receive an official designation as a Best Practice Spotlight Organization from the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario. Next, we continue our efforts to boost intersectoral collaboration, to strengthen multidisciplinary primary care access, to reduce inequities through education and awareness campaigns, and to support the adoption of digital health solutions by system workers and the population for optimal health service utilization.”

Tanguay won two awards for her academic excellence during her MHA studies. She earned the 2020–2021 MHA Alumni Association Health Leadership Award for her healthcare management field project on Hôpital Montfort and the 2022 Robert Wood Johnson Award from the Canadian College of Health Leaders for her valuable contribution to healthcare management. She also won the 2023 Public Sector Leader Award from the Regroupement des gens d'affaires de la capitale national (RGA). 

Understanding the healthcare system

For Tanguay, a solid understanding of the healthcare system and its finite resources is critical. “You need to understand where to pull from—environment, education, federal and provincial jurisdiction—to help you contribute to your system as a whole.” Tanguay feels that the MHA has provided her with this knowledge.

She feels that the MHA enables her to ask the right questions and effectively lead a local integrated network that aims to provide a continuum of uninterrupted care from birth to death for 200,000 people in Eastern Ontario. Working with 70 organizations across sectors, knowing where to negotiate within the region or province for funding or support is fundamental to her role. To further her understanding of healthcare policy and legislation, Tanguay completed a Certificate in Health Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, in 2023.

Tanguay recommends that MHA students embrace the journey of unlearning, relearning, and facing new challenges. This process enables you to broaden your perspectives, sustain growth, leverage networking opportunities, embrace the unique strengths of those around you, work as a team with partners, and ultimately prepare you for executive roles. “You will never regret anything you’ve invested in this program,” Tanguay says. “The MHA program provides you with the knowledge you need, and you will use it every day.”