What's in a name? Nova Scotia Health Authority quietly rebrands to Nova Scotia Health

The quiet change in name from the Nova Scotia Health Authority to Nova Scotia Health is not expected to add any immediate costs for the organization.

Nova Scotia Health provides health services and operates hospitals and health centres across the province.

Last year, it began dropping "Authority" from its name in communications and on its website, and its logo was updated to omit the word "authority."

The update comes without extra expenses, according to documents received in response to a freedom-of-information request about how much the changes would cost.

Internal emails ask staff not to order supplies with the new logo until old supplies are gone.

"We do not want any additional cost incurred as a result of this slight change," reads an all-staff email from Krista Grant, the chief of public engagement and communications.

The document said signs inside or outside buildings would not be initially changed.

The legal name for the entity remains Nova Scotia Health Authority.

Rationale for shift

The only rationale for the change provided in the documents is that the new name "more accurately reflects who we are as an organization and what we are working toward — that is, better health for Nova Scotians," read the speaking notes for CEO Brendan Carr at the annual general meeting last July.

"There have been discussions in recent years around whether 'authority' being used as part of the organization's name truly reflects its vision and mission, more particularly the work being done by our staff and physicians," Grant notes in her letter.

"We believe the use of the word 'authority' did not reflect the work that we do as an organization."

The Nova Scotia Health Authority was created in 2015, when the province's nine district health authorities were merged into one body.

The new documents reveal some staff were excited about the change, while others were flummoxed.

"When the naming decisions were being made back before April 2015, I know many people — including myself — thought it would be a good idea to be a little less stodgy and omit 'authority' in our day-to-day communications," wrote one communications worker.

"Although you and I know it will take a bit of work to 'right the ship,' it is nonetheless great news!"

"This is good!" wrote another staff member who works in public health. "The word 'authority' is contentious from an Indigenous and African NS perspective."

'Everybody is going to be very confused'

But not everyone was as enthusiastic.

The graphic designer responsible for drafting a new logo for the organization seemed nonplussed with the rollout of the changes.

"Having different logos on printed materials, signage and online is not a good idea," he wrote. "I think everybody is going to be very confused from staff to patients, just my 5 cents."

He went on to point out that the decision would have a significant impact on "everything that was done over the past few years."

"I am little at loss to understand to be honest," he wrote. "But yes I can update the logo, no problem."

Another staff member who works in psychiatry questioned the change, noting that the word "authority" conveys a sense of responsibility.

"I will assume by changing the name we are not planning to abdicate responsibility?" he wrote. "I believe this wordsmithing game can go on forever until we become mute or be unable to understand one another.

"Since, once we feel the words may be 'right' they'll already have evolved to mean or at least be mistaken to mean something else entirely."