Introducing… a capital development director
Matthew Kenney is the director of capital development & biomedical technology at Hamilton Health Sciences. He currently works between all sites and has been with HHS for three years.
Favourite colour: gray /book: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight /vacation spot: Positano, Italy /music: most genres /animal: dog /food: steak /holiday: whatever one is next!
“I love the variety of projects and staff that I interact with, and also that fact that it consistently changes.”
What do you love most about your job? I love the variety of projects and staff that I interact with, and also that fact that it consistently changes. The satisfaction comes with opening new space, or procuring new equipment that will better support our front line staff and patient care. In parallel to the shorter project horizons, I also really enjoy the strategy that comes with long term planning and contributing to “Our Healthy Future.”
Describe one of your most challenging days at work. Early on in my time at HHS, we were renovating new operating rooms and when we went to occupy them, we didn’t have enough air supply. This put us, and more so the clinical staff, in a tough spot to quickly troubleshoot a suitable short term plan to maintain patient care while working to develop a long term solution. It was a fairly stressful few months, but I am glad to say that everything is now fully functional.
“We have a highly skilled team of techs that are responsible for maintaining and fixing assets that are critical to the delivery of patient care.”
How does your role impact patient care? On the capital development side, we work closely with our clinical leadership, frontline staff, physicians, patients and families to design and build spaces that enable our staff to deliver the best possible care. On the biomedical technology side, we are responsible for maintaining over 17,000 pieces of equipment that are used daily by our clinical staff. We have a highly skilled team of techs that are responsible for maintaining and fixing these assets that are critical to the delivery of patient care.
What’s something you do in your role that others would be surprised to learn about? Currently, I am the co-chair of the HHS United Way committee. In this role I am responsible for planning the campaign month (October) which includes activities at each site as well as a Bowlathon which is becoming more popular each year. I encourage everyone to consider supporting the United Way, as many of the agencies that receive UW funding, directly benefit HHS and our patients.