Suspended health board chair out for good after bullying, harassment investigation
Boyd Noel was asked to step aside in November 2018
The former chair of the Labrador-Grenfell Health board of directors will not return to the position, says provincial Health and Community Services Minister John Haggie, following the completion of two investigations by the provincial government.
"It's been a difficult time, I think, for all concerned, and I think I'd like to thank people for their forbearance during the process and their willingness to stick with it," Haggie said Thursday.
Boyd Noel was suspended in November 2018 after the Department of Health and Community Services received allegations the provincial government said were serious enough to warrant an investigation.
One investigation looked at harassment and bullying, and the other dealt with board governance. Wayne Button, then mayor of Labrador City, was named acting chair of the regional health authority.
The volunteer board members met with department officials and senior management of the health authority in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Thursday to hear the results of the investigations.
"Neither report will be released publicly," Haggie said, who cited confidentiality in the harassment and bullying investigation and said recommendations were released from the governance investigation.
The nine recommendations include assessing competencies of the current board members, creating a code of conduct and providing education for board members on "achieving excellence in governance practices."
"The recommendations are based on best practices," Labrador-Grenfell Health CEO Heather Brown said. "We will continue to take those recommendations, dig into those, read more and use that to develop a learning plan."
"Some of these recommendations are almost complete," Haggie said. "Others are just getting off the ground."
Diverse board
Haggie also said the process for bringing on new board members needs to be improved.
"Labrador-Grenfell is a very diverse geographic and demographic group with interests that are probably not represented, [with] perspectives that need to be enhanced," he said.
Haggie said Button will remain as chair of the board until the commission makes its recommendations on the position.
When reached by phone today, Noel said he was not prepared to respond to the findings of the investigations as he is unaware of what was said at the meetings in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
But he added he may have something to say on the matter in the coming days.
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