Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the life of this Assembly and longer we’ve been hearing reports that all is not well in the land of health care governance. The Beaufort Health and Social Services Authority is one of four regional authorities where the Board of Management was dissolved and replaced with a public administrator.
The people of the Beaufort-Delta deserve to know how this situation is being resolved. We’ve been told the board structure as a whole isn’t working. The mandate of the board is too broad and ill-defined. This has led to a fragmented experience for patients, inefficiencies and cost overruns. Staffing issues have also come up with boards competing against each other for the same positions.
On February 8, 2012, the previous Minister of Health said in this House that his desire was to reinstate the board in the Beaufort-Delta within the year. Then on June 6, 2012, the Minister said he planned to put an advisory board in place. My understanding is that an advisory board would have less control and autonomy than a board of management. The idea behind advisory boards is to centralize health care administration so that things are run more efficiently and cost effectively.
At the end of May 2013, the Minister said work on a new board has been on hold while the new CEO is being hired in the Beaufort-Delta. Then the Minister stated, “The process of appointing a new board is going to start immediately... Once we have a good system that we think we are comfortable with right across the Territories, we are going to put the board in place.” He said, “I hope to have the Beaufort-Delta health board in place, whether it is an advisory board or a management board, before the end of this government.”
Then in August of this year, Debbie DeLancey, the deputy minister of Health, told the media that before boards can be restored, the roles and responsibilities need to be updated and outlined. “Our legislation is quite out of date,” she said. “It’s quite vague with respect to what the responsibilities of a board actually are and what the responsibilities of the ministry are…”
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I’ll just go a little further back.
“It’s quite vague with respect to what the responsibilities of a board actually are and what the responsibilities of the ministry are, so it needs some updating. There needs to be some clarity.” On that point, we agree. More clarity is needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
