The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario has made a wise, if somewhat unconventional, choice in appointing Alex Munter as its new CEO.

While Munter has no direct hospital management experience, his background as head of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network and former head of the Youth Services Bureau will serve him well.

In public health care, a knowledge of government and communications is arguably more important than the arcana of hospital administration. CHEO's future success depends on the provincial government meeting its financial needs and the public continuing to offer generous direct support.

CHEO needs a champion, and that is a role at which Munter excels. One can count on the former city councillor to highlight the hospital's successes and make the case for expanding its role.

Munter wants CHEO to take charge of all children's health care needs, both in the hospital and in the community. It is an ambitious plan that will require co-operation from the many other groups and agencies helping children, but it is a sensible approach.

Munter's departure is a blow to the embattled Champlain LHIN. In the recent provincial election, both the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives wanted to scrap the local health bureaucracies and use the money for front-line health care.

The election result gave LHINs a reprieve, but our local organization will miss the credibility Munter gave it.

Alex Munter is one of Ottawa's achievers, but his political views are too far to the left for most in this city. That limited his political growth potential, but Munter seems to have found his niche in health-care management. That's good for him, and good for Ottawa, too.