In two recent commentaries I discussed what really are public policy issues relative to the formation and early days of the new Health Authority Boards whose membership was announced in Brunswick News just last week. Having fired two previous boards and a CEO in what some critics in the public referred to as an unceremonious manner, the process was put in place for the appointment of successor boards. From the description of the appointees in the news, it looks like a very strong group of people with an interesting mix of business skill, some with some health care background, others with a healthy variety of backgrounds. With a person with strong clinical background as chair of Horizon and a strong successful business executive at Vitalite, and with the requirement in the legislation that the two boards collaborate, the future months and years could get really interesting. Having advocated for reform of the governance model for the health authorities for over 5 years, both publicly and privately, and having invested my life in the reforms of 1992 that eventually got forgotten, mine is more than a fleeting interest. The only thing standing between all the issues of concern to the public and successful correction is knowledgeable, informed, strong leadership. Money and resources are not the issue now nor have they been for many years.
When this new board, re-constructed with new legislation, new methods of recruitment and appointment of members, Chair and CEO, gets down to business they will have to accelerate their learning curve at several levels. First of all, for those with no background in directing health care programming, getting totally briefed on the issues of priority to the board along with the mountain of due diligence information, legal responsibilities, infrastructure, and more. Being a member of a non-profit that requires one or two brief meetings periodically and a few hours per month is not what this is. The issues are large, important, of real concern to the public, and constitute pretty complex public policy issues. Changing public policy is not for the faint of heart and particularly not so in New Brunswick. Everything in NB is political, even important matters that should not be in the political arena somehow get there. I remember discussing an internal matter at DECH with one of our good managers who said: I can chat with the Premier about that; I see him most days on the way to work! Coming from Ontario where interaction with provincial politicians, particularly at a senior level, was a very rare occurrence, this was my wake-up call to life in our beautiful province! Priority issues for the public, based on what has appeared in media and has been conveyed to politicians in the last decade include:
The new health authority boards have little choice but to initiate steps to make sure there is traction on these issues, that the infrastructure is in place to support it, and to move heaven and earth to accelerate progress. Government has, in the recent past, promised reforms; having promised and having put the governance structure in place to get there, I would wish them the best of success; it is a daunting task. The first couple of years will be time-consuming and challenging for the new board as it was in the 1992 reforms. It is a game of catch-up. They will have to be persistent, strong, assertive. Public expectations are running high. Ken McGeorge,BS,DHA,CHE is a retired career health care CEO, part time consultant, and columnist with Brunswick News, and author of Health Care Reform in New Brunswick; he can be reached at kenmcgeorge44@outlook.com
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AuthorKen McGeorge, BS,DHA,CHE is a career health care executive based in Fredericton, NB, Canada. Archives
May 2023
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