P.E.I. outlines reorganization of health care

The creation of a new administrative body to oversee the delivery of health care in P.E.I. will free up the Department of Health to focus on policy, says a report from the Health Governance Advisory Council.

The 75-page report, released Thursday, was delivered to the government in July. The advisory council was established last December to come up with recommendations for addressing concerns about the governance of health care in the province, which were first identified by an outside consultant.

The establishment of the new agency, to be called Health P.E.I., was announced in the speech from the throne this month, but there were few details at the time on how it would operate.

The report lays out how strategic and operational responsibilities are to be split between the Health Department and Health P.E.I., saying the department needs to be relieved of day-to-day tasks so it can focus on the bigger picture.

"The Department of Health is largely focused on health care operations, leaving few resources to fulfill the department's role in policy making, planning and oversight," the advisory council said.

Dr. Rosemary Henderson, a member of the advisory council, said there has been too much bureaucracy and political interference in the past.

"The health system essentially needs to be able to move a little bit faster with certain types of decisions, and the processes in the health system don't mesh well with processes in government to allow that kind of agility," she said.

"By turning over authority — budget responsibility, management responsibility — directly to the health care system, those processes should be speeded up."

Ron Maynard, another member, said the advisory council's goal was to have local managers solving certain problems.

"A lot of times they know the problem, but they're curtailed right now because of certain government bureaucracy," he said.

Diverse board

Health P.E.I.'s board of directors will consist of nine to 11 members, representing the diversity of Island residents and a broad spectrum of skills and knowledge.

The board will be appointed, not elected.

"Public boards have moved to appointed members as a means of ensuring that the desired skill sets and experience are present to provide the necessary governance and oversight of the board's work," the report says.

Much like a school board, Health P.E.I. will be given a budget and a mandate from the government and will be expected to operate health services within the province. The board will appoint a CEO and management to perform that task.

'He calls it post-traumatic restructuring disorder.' —Keith Dewar, deputy minister of health

While the health minister will provide direction to the agency and appoint its board members, the board is also expected to make recommendations to the minister regarding new opportunities and risks, and the implications for the strategic direction of health care.

The board will still have to go to the government to spend outside its budget or make a major decision, such as closing a hospital.

Fourth restructuring in 15 years

Health Minister Doug Currie said the government has accepted the advisory council's recommendations.

"Ultimately, as the minister, I'm responsible for the health care system as we move forward, but we need to put our focus and policy direction and implementing where health care needs to go in the future in collaboration with the board," he said.

Currie said the board will also have to find a way to involve the community, although there are no details on how that might happen.

The health minister added that this would be the fourth restructuring of the province's health care system in 15 years.

Keith Dewar, the deputy minister of health, said his boss has a phrase for what's been happening in P.E.I.

"He calls it post-traumatic restructuring disorder," said Dewar.

The advisory council noted that there have been several attempts to restructure the system in the past that caused disruption to staff each time. They recommended the government leave the Health P.E.I. model in place for at least five years to allow it to grow and fully function.

"This is an idea that we have put forth with a lot of research and a lot of thought and a lot of dedication," said Maynard.

Currie said people who work in the health care system should not be worried about this latest change and said there would be minimal impact on staff and no job losses as a result.