HAY RIVER - Sue Cullen is eagerly looking forward to her new job.

As of May 1, Sue Cullen will be the new chief executive officer with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

As of May 1, she will become the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority.

"I'm thrilled, I really am," she said. "I think we have some tremendous people that are poised to move forward, and I'm certainly ready to lead the organization. I'm really delighted."

Cullen, who moved to Hay River in late 2008, began working with the authority in May of last year as manager of long-term care.

In December, she was appointed director of patient care services, which oversees numerous aspects of the authority's work.

"It was a very fulsome portfolio," she said. "Obviously, I was well-versed in the long-term care program, so this move in December better acquainted me with the issues in the other programs, certainly from a clinical perspective."

In March, she also assumed responsibility for social programs.

"Certainly I don't know everything, but I feel that I'm well positioned to move into the CEO position mindful of the issues present," she said

Cullen, 53, will replace Al Woods, who has been interim CEO since late 2008.

She praises Woods for positioning the authority to move forward in a positive and effective way.

"I feel really fortunate to be taking over from him," she said.

Cullen, who is originally from Saskatchewan, started her healthcare career in the 1980s as a nurse in Mayerthorpe, Alta., where her husband was posted with the RCMP.

Cullen has a number of family ties to the RCMP. Her father and her brother were members of the force, while her daughter is a Mountie in Saskatchewan.

After leaving Mayerthorpe, Cullen worked in a variety of healthcare management roles in Calgary, the United States, the United Kingdom and Toronto.

She doesn't know how common it is for a nurse to advance to become CEO of a health authority.

"I think that nursing can take many pathways," she said.

While Cullen enjoyed hands-on nursing, she said she had the opportunity in Mayerthorpe to assume roles in administration.

"I then got the bug, if you will, to move forward in that vein," she said. "There was just so much potential to actually move the organization forward from a patient-care perspective from that position, while certainly understanding the nursing perspective. So I think it provides me a unique opportunity of understanding what happens on the patient floor, while still understanding the administrative challenges."

She came to Hay River when her husband, Staff Sgt. Francis Cullen, was posted to the community as senior advisory non-commissioned officer for the south district of the RCMP's D Division.

Since 2002, her husband has served in various detachments in the North – Ulukhaktok, Norman Wells, Yellowknife and Behchoko.

Cullen said some people in Hay River wonder how long she will be in the community considering the frequency in which RCMP officers are transferred.

However, she said her husband has served 30 years with the RCMP and is near retirement.

"So it would be an opportunity for us to actually look at whether we would live here long term," she said. "We're loving Hay River. The people are fantastic. We love the outdoor activities and enjoy winter, and that's often a good thing in the Northwest Territories. My goal is to definitely be here long term."

Among her priorities as the new CEO will be to attract more doctors and nurses to Hay River. The community does not currently have a permanent physician, but is served by locums.

Among Cullen's other priorities will be expanding a mammography program to cover more communities. Right now, the program services Hay River, the Hay River Reserve, Enterprise and Kakisa, but she would like to see it expanded east to Fort Smith and west to Fort Liard.

She would also like to see an expansion of the dialysis program in Hay River.

Cullen also aims to enhance access to the medical clinic, which is in a separate building near the hospital.

"That is a major priority for me over the course of the next few months," she said, adding she would like to ensure people have a better opportunity to be seen in a more structured way.

In the longer term, Hay River will be getting a new hospital, she said. "It is definitely a priority for being ready for operation in 2015."

As CEO, Cullen will oversee an organization with about 170 employees.