David Thompson downsized

David Thompson Health Authority Board members were dismissed at noon on Thursday, along with the members of the eight other regional health boards in Alberta.

In their place the province has decided to create a super board called the Alberta Health Services Board, which will be responsible for health services delivery for the entire province. All nine provincial health regions will remain distinct, but now report to that one provincial board.

The board will also replace the Alberta Mental Health Board, Alberta Cancer Board and Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission.

An interim chair and six-member board, appointed by Health and Wellness Minister Ron Liepert, is now in place prior to the establishment of a permanent 15-member provincial board of directors and a CEO.

Jean Graham, now the former board chair of DTHR, was told she was no longer needed to guide the Central Alberta health board shortly after 11 a.m. on Thursday when Liepert called her while she was in Calgary.

“Frankly having the rug pulled out from under my feet in this fashion is quite distressing. I’m just totally dismayed the way they’ve done this,” said Graham by cellphone on her way back to Red Deer on Thursday afternoon.

“I’m very concerned that a seven-person interim board, with probably good management skills but not much health knowledge, will be able to govern the system as effectively as a local governing body.”

None of the seven members of the new interim board are from Central Alberta, which is another concern for Graham.

She hoped the interim board would quickly recognize they need to do consultation in Central Alberta to ensure the high quality of health care is maintained in the region.

Longtime DTHR board member Michael Dawe said he was shocked and saddened by the announcement.

“We literally had our last board meeting yesterday (Wednesday). None of us knew yesterday that would be our final board meeting and in 24 hours there would be no board,” Dawe said.

The board had representatives from several communities in the region, which is larger then the country of Denmark, he said.

With a population of 300,000, DTHR is the third largest health region in Alberta. It employs more than 9,000 staff.

“There’s a lot of different interests across the province so to be able to deal with all the community issues, I’m not sure how that will exactly work out,” Dawe said.

Government did say Voluntary Community Health Councils, appointed by the board, will recommend ways to address local health needs. Their connection to the new board must still be worked out.

The move to a single provincial board was made to streamline the health system for patients and health care workers. It’s intended to strengthen a provincial approach to managing health services, including surgical access, long-term care, chronic disease management, addictions and mental health.

Graham said the previous health minister and the regional boards did have conversations about the standardization of services and quality.

“My personal feeling is that standardization and access to services could have been done working with the existing minister and ministry and the current health authority board.

“If the direction is given to us, then we follow the direction. That’s what you do when you’re an appointed board. Obviously the minister did not think that was going to be successful. He made his decision and that’s his right.”

She said her conversation with Liepert was brief, but he did say staff at DTHR would not change.

“He assured me the CEO’s job will continue and that in the system itself there will not be a great deal of change.”

But DTHR president and CEO John Vogelzang will now report to a provincial CEO.

Charlotte Robb, former CEO and president of DynaLife Diagnostics, is the interim CEO.

Robb’s connection to the for-profit health care sector, and the appointment of Ken Hughes, president of Alpine Insurance and Financial Inc. as interim chair, is a step towards a two-tier health care system, said Sam Denhaan, local spokesman with Friends of Medicare.

“It’s never really died. It’s only sleeping,” Denhaan said about for-profit health care that Friends of Medicare has battled against in Alberta.

He said the DTHR was already moving in that direction with its partnership with Entendicare to build and operate Michener Hill Village, which will have 220 continuing care beds and 60 supportive living beds.

“For a government that says it doesn’t want to be in debt, what they’re doing now with P3s is shouldering Alberta people with long-term debt.”

Contact Susan Zielinski at szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com