Show Notes
Trigger warning: This episode touches on themes of mental health and loss of life. Listener discretion is advised. Neil Fraser is one of the most respected leaders in Canada's medtech sector. He spent 38 years at Medtronic Canada, serving as president from 2004 to 2022, and has been a longtime advisor on health innovation policy and a director on numerous boards.
In this archive episode of NGBideas, host Jim Wilson speaks with Neil about a journey that began in a nomadic, trans-Canadian family and led him from chemical engineering at UBC to the leading edge of Canadian healthcare. Neil reflects on the early Procter and Gamble years where he patented a world product, his role introducing aluminum cans and curbside recycling to Ontario at Alcan, and the serendipitous move to a then-tiny Medtronic that shaped the rest of his career.
Along the way, Neil shares the lessons that stayed with him, from a founder's belief that everyone is responsible and the patient comes first, to his passion for value-based healthcare, and why he believes the status quo can always be changed with a well-made, evidence-based argument.
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