[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Repa_Rebecca.jpg” caption=”Rebecca Repa ’90, vice-president, planning, redevelopment and diagnostic services at St. Josephs Hospital.”]DeGroote School of Business alumna Rebecca Repa '90 knows first hand the challenges of working in the healthcare sector. As vice-president, planning, redevelopment and diagnostic services for St. Joseph's Healthcare, Repa works to apply a business rigor to public sector health industry – not an easy task.

“We don't control supply. We don't control demand, yet we're required to run a business with the same stewardship as any other business. Our tool bag really has to be diverse,” she explains.

In Repa's tool bag are skills she learned while completing her MBA in Health Services Management at DeGroote.

“The most important thing I learned from my degree at DeGroote is that business is dynamic and organizations are organic. There are many factors that influence outcomes. In business, we're taught to break them down, but it's the dynamic way those things work together that's really important.”

Repa will share some of her experiences from the healthcare sector and from McMaster University at the DeGroote School of Business Evening of Accolades happening tonight at the Royal Botanical Gardens. The evening will feature the Wayne C. Fox Distinguished Alumni Award, which this year will be presented to Repa.

“With this honour, we salute Rebecca Repa's commitment and dedication to DeGroote and McMaster,” said Dean Paul Bates. “As a respected and active alumna, she leads by example. She is an inspiration to students, with whom she has built lasting and meaningful relationships as a mentor, recruiter and friend.”

Repa provides guidance and assistance to an MBA candidate through the DeGroote Mentor Program: she and her colleagues from St. Joseph's regularly recruit on campus, she serves on several McMaster committees, including the DeGroote Business Advisory Council, and is a frequent guest speaker and participant on various University leadership and student panels.

The Wayne C. Fox Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest form of recognition presented by the DeGroote Alumni Association. It recognizes alumni whose personal accomplishments, reputation and character enhance the reputation of McMaster University. The award is named for its inaugural recipient, Wayne Fox, vice-chairman and chief risk officer of CIBC and deputy chairman, CIBC World Markets Inc.

Along with the Distinguished Alumni Award presentation, DeGroote will also recognize student leadership and faculty research at the Evening of Accolades.

McMaster has offered an internationally recognized program in business since 1952. In 1991, the faculty formally became the DeGroote School of Business, Canada's first named business school. DeGroote offers undergraduate, full-time and co-op MBA, and PhD programs. More than 12,000 students have graduated from the Faculty of Business.