Local Doctors take on Leadership Roles at the Cape Breton Medical Campus

Three well-known local health professionals will take on leadership roles at the Cape Breton Medical Campus. Dr. Kevin Orrell will become Interim Associate Dean while Dr. Susan MacLeod and Dr. Jim MacKillop will become Family Medicine Special Advisors. The appointments were announced today by David C. Dingwall, President and Vice-Chancellor of Cape Breton University and Dr. David Anderson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Orrell, Dr. MacLeod and Dr. Mackillop in these roles,” says President Dingwall. “They are highly respected within the community and will bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Cape Breton Medical Campus. The strategic leadership they bring to this initiative will ultimately benefit the entire community and ensure we are well positioned for success in the future.”

“Leadership from, and engagement of, the physician community in Cape Breton is pivotal to the success of the Cape Breton Medical Campus. The appointment of these key Cape Breton leaders is a very important step on the path to opening the campus in 2025,” says Dr. Anderson.

Working with the Interim Associate Dean, the Family Medicine advisors will engage and liaise with family doctors, other physicians, and health professionals regarding the Cape Breton Medical Campus. They will also advise on family medicine and rural and remote health strategy for the new campus, and will engage with stakeholders and partners on the family medicine focus of the new campus.

Dr. Orrell has been serving as the Special Advisor to the President of Cape Breton University on Strategic Health Initiatives, including the Cape Breton Medical Campus, and is a skilled physician and orthopedic surgeon. He is a former Deputy Minister of the Provincial Department of Health and Wellness where he was instrumental in overseeing the provincial response to Covid-19.

Dr. Susan MacLeod is a graduate of Memorial University (MUN) and has been practicing family medicine for 21 years. She continues to welcome students as an Assistant Professor with Dalhousie University.

Dr. Jim MacKillop graduated from Dalhousie University in 1981. He began practicing family medicine in Sydney in 1984. He was the inaugural site lead for the Dalhousie’s Cape Breton Family Medicine Residency Program from its beginning in 1997 until 2014. He has continued as an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University involved with medical education. He practices family medicine at the Sydney Primary Care Medical Clinic Collaborative.

The Province of Nova Scotia is providing $58.9 million in funding for the medical campus, which will include a 10,000 patient Collaborative Clinic. It is expected to open by the fall of 2025 and will train up to 30 medical students a year with a focus on rural and family medicine.