Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist
GASPÉ – As of September 3, Dr. Yv Bonnier Viger, the Regional Director of Public Health for the Gaspé Peninsula and Magdalen Islands, will be stepping down.
Dr. Bonnier Viger, who is a preventative medicine specialist will take on the role of medical advisor. “We had been thinking about this for some time. We had to ensure a succession. The succession is ready and I will step down because I am a 1950 model. At some point, we simply have to make way for the succession,” says Dr. Bonnier Viger, who is 74 years old.
The physician will continue his work to support his successor in a smooth transition. Dr. Bonnier Viger has held this position twice: from 2001 to 2002, and since 2016. His tenure as Director of Public Health was especially defined by the pandemic. Dr. Bonnier Viger believes that his team is well-prepared to handle any future events. Lessons have been learned, and Public Health is now working on building a better response for what the future may hold.
“We are preparing plans and we will take the time to do simulations to be ready. We can be ready on paper, but if we have never tried it, that is when we can have surprises. The difference between theory and practice is considerable and we must take the time to properly practice what we have planned,” says Dr. Bonnier Viger.
Dr. Bonnier Viger does not want to talk about legacy, because he has not finished his work. “With my role as director, having a participatory management approach, geared towards always allowing others to do the best they can do, I think it’s a winning formula,” he says.
He says he might have a little more free time once he is no longer involved in management. “My time was already very limited. I may have weeks that are a little more normal, but I won’t have a lot of free time. There are a lot of files that we have to put a lot of time into. I’ll have my work cut out for me to continue working 60 to 80 hours as I do,” he says.
“I’m in great shape. When you get older, you’re more likely to get sick. It’s better to be in positions that don’t affect too many people at the same time if something happens,” he says.
After his first stint as Director of Public Health for the Gaspé Peninsula and Magdalen Islands region in 2001-2002, he left to create the Public Health Department in Cree territory, a role he held until 2008.
He was then recruited by Laval University as a part-time coordinator of the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, while also serving as a medical assistant to the Director of Public Health in Chaudière-Appalaches. In 2010, he became the department’s director. Dr. Bonnier Viger returned to the Gaspé Peninsula in 2016.
In a 2020 interview, Dr. Bonnier Viger set himself the goal of getting public health back on track after the Barrette reform, with a younger management team and remaining a medical advisor, a role he will officially take on in September.