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Oral
Questions
April 22, 2008
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| In the House | Question
Period
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, last week I
met with the head of laboratory services at Eastern
Health, Dr. Denic, to discuss issues surrounding
recruitment and retention of pathologists. Without
immediate action, there will be seven vacant pathology
positions at Eastern Health by this summer. Mr. Speaker,
the Premier has stated previously that to attract
people, like when he recruited Mr. Ed Martin to work at
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, that we must pay
competitive rates with the industry.
So, I ask the Premier
today: Why are we not paying
our pathologists a competitive, national wage in order
to recruit and retain their expertise in the Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Members of this House may
recall last year when I stood here, some time around the
middle of May, and announced that government was
implementing a stipend to be paid to pathologists in the
Province that will bring them on par with the
oncologists who were practicing in the Province. At that
time I think I indicated to this House, Mr. Speaker,
that with that stipend - in addition to the salary they
had already negotiated with their association and with
government - it brought them much more inline with other
jurisdictions in the country and put us in a position
where now we were going to be much more competitive on a
compensation perspective and a salary perspective; add
to those the other benefits with respect to vacations,
leave, education leaves and other kinds of benefits paid
to the pathologists, should make us competitive in a
national marketplace, I say, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, the minister knows that the stipend he refers
to has not allowed them to be competitive in the wage
rates with the rest of the country. He also knows that
the stipend does not contribute to further pensionable
benefits and so on for these individuals.
Mr. Speaker, I know that
each of the health boards are responsible for the
recruitment and retention efforts within their various
health care corporations, but I ask the minister today,
outside of providing the monetary package, does
government play any other direct role in the recruitment
or retention of these professionals in the Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, a couple of
years ago government funded a position, recruiting
position, as a part of our Recruitment and Retention
Strategy. We put in place a program where we would have
a dedicated recruiter to work with the Regional Health
Authorities in recruiting positions for the Province. We
also have a program in place where we provide bursaries.
We provide financial support to people entering the
residency programs and these are part of the provincial
government’s initiatives as we support the work of the
Regional Health Authorities.
So, through this position
recruiter office that we have established, they are
working very closely with their four authorities in
ensuring that we have an ample supply of physicians for
the Province, but also work with the authorities in
identifying retention strategies, I say, too, Mr.
Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The resignation of Dr.
Beverley Carter will have a dramatic impact on
subspecialty breast cancer pathology. She was the lead
consultant, not only for Eastern Health but for the
entire Province. There is uncertainty as to how this
subspecialty will be able to continue after her
departure in June.
So, I ask the minister: Has
the department looked at how subspecialty breast cancer
pathology can continue at Eastern Health in order to
serve the entire Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, the member opposite raises an interesting
point. I am glad she has brought her attention back to
it because this is something I have been saying in this
House and outside, and something that the Premier has
said many times before. We have had the recent
resignation of a pathologist and one of the things that
the other pathologists are saying is that they are
concerned about the level of attention and criticism
they have been receiving recently as a result of some
discussions around ER-PR testing which took place some
time ago.
I say, Mr. Speaker, all
of us as a Province, not just as a government and as
Opposition, but as a Province we have a vested interest
in ensuring that we could create and support a very
supportive climate for the physicians that we have in
our Province.
One of the things that we
were challenged by in the recent past is a lot of the
public criticism, a lot of the public scrutiny, that has
gone on of our health system, and it creates a climate
where physicians will frequently feel pressured that
they are under a microscope constantly for the work that
they do, and people are questioning the quality of the
work they do.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the minister to
conclude his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: I
will, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much.
That is why I say I am
glad the member opposite is finally realizing that some
of the attention that her and other people have been
bringing to this issue, and some of the undue criticism
levied at individuals, creates a circumstance where it
creates a bit of uncertainty, and I say, Mr. Speaker,
(inaudible).
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I think the minister
needs to realize that the real circumstance we have here
is: we have an inadequate benefit package to attract
these professionals in the Province when it comes to
competing with the rest of the country.
Mr. Speaker, I say to the
minister, I took the time to sit down and meet with
these pathologists, in fact, to better understand the
situation that they are in and what they are confronted
with. I might ask if he has done the same to date.
Mr. Speaker, in our
briefings last week with Eastern Health, it was
indicated to us that pathologists obviously rely heavily
on the work of technical support workers in the lab.
They also indicated that there was a shortage in these
positions.
I ask
the minister if he is aware of a shortage of technical
support staff in these labs, if he can tell me what that
shortage is, and what recruitment efforts are being
made?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: I
understand from an analysis of the potential retirements
in our laboratory services throughout Newfoundland and
Labrador that, with the current age bands of those who
are currently employed in the system, in the next five
to ten years there is a large number of anticipated
retirements.
Very specifically today,
neither one of our authorities have brought to my
attention that they are dealing with a severe shortage
of technologists. There are some locations throughout
the Province where they may periodically have some
difficulty recruiting laboratory technologists, but as
of today I am not aware that we have a serious shortage
of technologists in the Province. I know we are planning
for some retirements in the next five or ten years, but
today I am not certain that, in Eastern Health
particularly, we are experiencing a shortage of
technologists.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I hope the minister is
correct in the information, but I would ask that he
undertake to check that out and to provide the full
information.
Mr. Speaker, according to
George Tilley’s testimony last week at the Cameron
inquiry, there were great expectations that Eastern
Health do more with less. He indicated that savings of
between $8 million and $10 million were expected through
the amalgamation process of health boards in the Eastern
Region.
I ask the minister: Why
were four mega-boards created in 2004 with cost-saving
measures in mind but no transition plan or resources to
ensure its success?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, before I answer the question, I just want to
put in context her commentary about the mega-boards.
This has been repeated time and time again, a reference
to mega-boards. Any issue that comes up in health care
today, the first things is, oh, that is because of the
consolidation of heath boards in 2005. Everything that
happens is attributed to an amalgamation that occurred
in 2005, and nothing could be further from the truth.
When you talk about mega-boards, it is as if there is
something mystical about something we have done in this
Province.
If you look around this
country, New Brunswick, a couple of weeks ago, announced
that they are going to have two boards. The population
of that province is somewhere between 750,000 and
800,000 people, and they are going to have two. So, if
they split it down the middle, that is 400,000 apiece.
Eastern Health, 293,000
people is what they serve, and some tertiary programs
they have for the entire Province. If you look around
the country, Alberta, just a couple of days ago,
announced that they are going to move towards a further
consolidation of their boards and have hinted at having
only one for an entire Province of 1.6 million or 1.7
million people.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the minister to
conclude his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
What I am trying to do,
Mr. Speaker, is put in context here references to
mega-boards as if there is some problem associated with
having large boards in the Province. When we look across
this country, it is a pattern that has been established
because everybody realizes there are some economies of
scale to be achieved by having larger boards.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mega does not mean
unsuccessful, Minister, in my book, and I am sure there
are many large boards out there that do not have
problems. We are just identifying some that may exist
here.
In
fact, we are hearing that the transition is not complete
within Eastern Health, of these board structures, and I
ask the minister now if resources will be provided to
Eastern Health to help them complete the transition
process so that this restructuring can be completed
successfully.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, I sincerely hope that the member has been
hearing that the transition has not been completed,
because I have said it in this House about ten times
during this sitting alone. I have said, very clearly,
that transitions and the bringing together of
organizations take a period of time. This only happened
in 2005. I have said many, many times that anywhere
between three to five years would be considered a
reasonable period of time to allow a full transition to
occur. This is 2008, three years after that, so we sill
have a year or two before all these transition issues
are being dealt with.
I share by way of
example, last week, in this House, the example of the
bargaining units coming together. It is a major piece of
work. It cannot happen overnight. It will probably not
be concluded over the course of the next twelve or
eighteen months. That is just one example of something
that is still very much in transition and a natural
part, I say, Mr. Speaker, a natural part, of bringing
organizations together and dealing with the many
challenges of bringing them under one governance model.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the
minister, because I have been told that there are
significant outstanding employee arbitration cases
within Eastern Health, I ask if
the minister can confirm for me today that there are
approximately 3,000 outstanding arbitration cases that
have not been dealt with.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: One
of the things, as a government, and as your government
previously, we created health authorities to deal with
the day-to-day operations of our health services in the
system. Human resources and labour relations issues are
a part of their responsibility. The number of grievances
they may have, the number of grievances that may have
been filed, the number of arbitrations that they may be
dealing with today, and the whole issue of their
relationship with the various collective bargaining
units that they are dealing with, is an issue dealt with
by the human resources and labour relations people.
I have no idea at all,
Mr. Speaker, nor would I, in my position as minister,
have an idea on any given day the number of grievances
outstanding in any one of our regional health
authorities. It is an issue, obviously, that is
important to the member opposite and I will undertake to
find out exactly how many there are.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
That was all I required,
some confirmation as to whether that is the case.
Obviously, morale in the workplace is very important
when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees.
Mr. Speaker, in April the
government released – actually, April 18, I think it
was, Friday, or Thursday - the government released a
report completed by the Fire Commissioner for ten health
facilities in the Province, after the media and the
Opposition pushed for this review.
My questions are for the
Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs. The report
revealed that seven of these ten facilities required
sprinkler systems, nine out of ten required work on fire
separation and fire alarm systems, and all of these
facilities required some level of action.
I would like to ask the
Minister of Municipal Affairs: Why
did you issue a release on March 6 stating that there
were no immediate fire and safety concerns when it was
obvious from this April report that there was a
multitude of concerns in these facilities?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. DENINE: Mr.
Speaker, I would like to address the protocol, and what
happened with the timing of that release.
In that release, I said
there were no immediate concerns brought to the
attention of the fire commissioner. What happens is
that, when the fire inspections are taking place, if
there are any concerns, they are directed to the fire
commissioner’s office. I was correct in saying none of
those concerns were brought to the attention of the fire
commissioner at that time.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, the fire commissioner’s report also revealed
an overall weakness in staff training. In 66 per cent of
the provincial health facilities that he reviewed, he
indicated that ten of these facilities examined required
staff training; however, once again, you, Minister, told
the media that people working in these health facilities
knew what they had to do in case of any emergency that
was fire safety related.
I have to ask: On
what basis were you able to make those statements?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
MR. DENINE: Mr.
Speaker, when I received that report, and I had a
conversation with the fire commissioner, that was one of
the things that we needed to implement. We needed to
implement seminars for life safety, evacuation
procedures and life safety codes within the structure
itself.
The fire commissioner
came back and said to me, what we need to do is conduct
seminars so that each health facility that is owned by
the government would attend those seminars, and they
would go back and implement the fire safety regulations
there.
So, Mr. Speaker, we are
taking a proactive approach in terms of that, and that
will be corrected in the near future.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Mr.
Speaker, the report also cited that the Labrador City
hospital is severely lacking in fire protection and life
safety features. I know it is government’s intention
to replace this facility, but at the present time it is
still in operation, providing health care services to
the people in that area. In fact, the commissioner has
ordered a two-person shift to patrol the facility, I
think, on a twenty-four hour basis.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
minister: Why didn’t
government discover these life and safety issues before
now? Are there no protocols in place whatsoever for the
guaranteed inspection and reports on these facilities on
a regular basis?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
MR. DENINE: Mr.
Speaker, this facility did not have these deficiencies
overnight. These were accumulating over years.
What we are going to do,
Mr. Speaker – and the Opposition Leader is right,
there are foot patrols in that building right now. Any
immediate concerns that were there, for example, when
the fire inspector went through that facility - if
lights had to be put on, and whatever, some small issues
- they were addressed immediately. Right now, they are
given sixty to ninety days to implement the deficiencies
that are there, and they have twenty-four months to
install the sprinkler systems.
Mr. Speaker, we are
working towards it; we are going to make it safe. In
talking to the fire commissioner today, he is quite
comfortable with the patrols that are on the floors
today.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask the minister again:
Are there any protocols in
place for the inspection of these government-owned
facilities? If not, will there be some put in place to
at least say they have to be inspected annually, every
three years, four years, or whatever the case may be?
I am not aware that there are any regulations right now.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Municipal Affairs.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. DENINE: Mr.
Speaker, the regulation we have today is that there is
an MOU with the local fire departments to carry out the
inspections, and with different inspectors in Government
Services. After getting this report, I instructed FES-NL
to go back, look at our protocols, examine them, change
them if they need to, and make sure that this does not
happen again, so that I am not on this floor again
trying to defend anything like this.
This is something we are
going to look at. To the Opposition Leader, yes,
protocols will be put in place. We are going to look at
the overall policy to make sure, again, as I said, that
it does not happen again.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
My next question is for
the Minister of Health and Community Services.
I wanted to indicate to
him that over the past three months the Department of
Health and Community Services have been told repeatedly
by our office, the Opposition office, that the phone
number of an opposition researcher was published on an
application form for the Prescription Drug Program.
I am only raising it
because there have been a lot of calls coming in to our
office, messages being left on message machines with
private and confidential information, and we have
reported it consecutively to the department. Nothing has
been done. We are still receiving phone calls.
I want to raise it for
you, Minister, to look into this, to see what the
problem is, and to ensure that the number is removed. Are
you aware of it?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister of
Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I was not sure if it was
a question or a statement. If it was a question, yes, I
was aware of it. As you pointed out, it is in printed
material and, unfortunately, the printed material has
been disseminated some time ago so there may still be
some copies of that in circulation.
The number, as I
understand, that has now been corrected. The unfortunate
thing is, you may still get a few more calls because the
information is out there in print.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, it is the mandate of the Department of
Environment and Conservation to monitor and analyze the
chemical quality of community water supplies in this
Province.
On January 31, the
Minister of the Department of Environment issued a
non-consumption water advisory to eleven communities.
The next evening, the minister disclosed that these
communities had been using contaminated chlorine to
treat their water supplies for more than two weeks.
My question to the
minister is: Why did the issue
of contaminated chlorine not get picked up by officials
in the Water Resources Management Division in that two
week time frame?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Environment and Conversation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS JOHNSON: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, this
government is really committed to safe and clean
drinking water. I certainly do not want to put words
into the Premier’s mouth, but I do know how committed
he is to this and he has made it a top priority for him,
as he said publicly as well.
The instance that you
refer to is one that did happen. These are private
transactions that occur between the municipalities.
Municipalities are responsible for carrying out the
water testing in their communities. Certainly, this was
a private transaction that occurred between the
municipality and the particular company. We did follow
up. We did have an operator training session with the
municipalities and they are very aware now of what they
need to look for in the future so that this does not
happen again.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, according to the supplier of the chlorine,
municipal workers in New Brunswick first discovered this
problem and alerted officials with Health Canada as
early as January 25. Municipalities in this Province
were not notified until a recall was issued on January
29 and the minister issued the non-consumption advisory
on January 31.
I ask the minister: Can
she tell this House when she was notified about the
contamination, who notified her, and does she feel the
reporting process was adequate?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS JOHNSON: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
As I did just mention,
these are private transactions between the municipality
and the particular business involved. Officials within
my department became aware of this late on a Wednesday
evening. I am not sure of the exact date, at the moment,
but I know it was late on a Wednesday evening. We became
aware of it. At that time there were calls put out to
municipalities.
First of all we had to
determine if, in fact, this particular supplier had sold
it to any of the municipalities in our Province. Once
that was done, we immediately acted to call all of these
municipalities and tell them that they were in
possession of chlorine which they shouldn’t be using.
So, I am quite confident that all protocols were
followed.
At the same time, the
business that did sell the particular product, they were
also contacting municipalities at the same time. We just
did it as an extra step, a precautionary step. We, in
fact, took it a little step further and contacted Health
Canada and asked them to do an emergency risk assessment
of this as soon as possible.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, I have to say to the minister that this was
simply a matter of luck, I guess, that the health and
the environmental risks associated with drinking this
chemical was at a low amount. The result could have been
very difficult if the chemical involved had been more
dangerous.
I ask the minister. Now
that you have received this startling wake-up call on
the inadequacies in the system, what new procedures are
being put in place to prevent more serious incidents
from happening in the future?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS JOHNSON: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, just last
month there was an operator, trainer and education
program in Gander where we pull all municipal operators
together for a conference, at virtually no cost to them.
We highlighted at that conference, again, the importance
of ensuring that the product that they are using is a
certified product. Our training session, in fact, is
recognized throughout North America. We have the
Walkerton community using our training modules. Also,
just recently, we were contacted by West Virginia to
also mimic and use our training facilities as well.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS JOHNSON: I
would like to let the hon. member opposite know that
this is the only Province in Canada that does water
quality testing. In fact, last year we tested 2,950
samples. We are recognized nationally for that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, I say to the minister, I know the officials in
her department tests the water, but I have to say to
her, I spoke with officials in various communities where
inspectors have not gone into the actual facility where
the chlorine enters the water system from as high as
seven to eight years.
Mr. Speaker, one of the
issues that emerged with this story was the fact that
smaller communities were using different types of
chlorine. A follow-up investigation by Health Canada
revealed that forty-four communities were using
different chlorines that were not certified by the
National Sanitation Foundation.
I ask the minister: Why
were officials in the department, where she is minister,
unaware of the use of non-certified chlorine by
forty-four municipalities?
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. the Minister of Environment and Conservation.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS JOHNSON: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Upon knowing that this
chlorine was contaminated, we did ask Health Canada to
do the emergency risk assessment. As a result of that,
they did come to find out the product that most of these
municipalities were using was, in fact, a contaminated
product and it was not certified.
Mr. Speaker, as I said,
these are private transactions between the
municipalities and the business. We do have an operator
training session but there are over 500 communities in
the Province, and hundreds of those do check the
chlorine on a daily basis. It is our role to ensure that
they are properly trained to do so, and we did just
that.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in recent
documents tabled at the Cameron Inquiry we have learned
that the former CEO of Eastern Health believed that the
anticipated savings on which Treasury Board based its
recommendations for restructuring our health system were
unrealistic. He also expressed concern that the
expectations of Treasury Board for the new health
authority were beyond reach.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
Premier: Will he verify that the main reason for the
reorganizing of the health boards was based on
recommendations by Treasury Board as a cost-cutting
measure, rather than on an overall analysis of the needs
of the health care system?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, any consolidation of health authorities across
this country, including Newfoundland and Labrador, would
have been based on a couple of very basic fundamental
understandings. One is there should be some economies of
scale to be achieved by bringing together organizations.
You are able to have one administrative group, single
payroll system, single accounting functions, single
purchasing functions - those sorts of day-to-day things.
The other thing, which is
more important, I say, Mr. Speaker, much more important,
is an ability for one authority, or two authorities, or
smaller groups of authorities, to better coordinate the
delivery of health programs across our Province.
Historically, we have had community health services,
institutional services, both acute care and long-term
care. If you look at how health services are organized
and delivered across this country it makes a lot more
sense, it creates a greater efficiency and a much better
health system for the people of the Province, when you
have a better coordination of services - which you are
able to achieve with one government structure, one
single entity, rather than have multiple organizations
with different mandates, providing -
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. minister
to conclude his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
- all trying to
coordinate services across each other’s boundaries,
and I say, Mr. Speaker, that is the first and primary -
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Member for
Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Once again, I did not get
an answer from the Minister of Health, so I will
continue. In some of the documents that were tabled last
week, we have Mr. Tilley being quoted as talking about
the recommendations of Treasury Board and Treasury Board
making recommendations with regard to personnel, with
regard to loss of management, making recommendations
that he did not believe were the purview of Treasury
Board because they did not have the knowledge of how the
health care system works.
So my question is: Is the
current reorganization that you keep telling us,
minister, is ongoing, is this now going to come under
recommendations from the Ministry of Health, rather than
cost saving measures and recommendations from Treasury
Board?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, obviously,
you have never sat in government, you would not
understand exactly how it works. Within our system we
have four authorities, and they have a responsibility
for delivery of programs and services. At the Department
of Health and Community Services we provide broad policy
direction. We secure money through the annual budgetary
process to provide the authorities with money to
delivery those programs and services. Within government,
there are multiple ministries, multiple departments.
Each of us has a role. The role that Treasury Board will
play in identifying - to help us with the budgetary
process. They have a certain degree of expertise in the
areas of labour relations and organizational structures.
So, they are part of a team, I say, Mr. Speaker. They
are part of a collective team.
Government overall,
including the Department of Health and Community
Services, Treasury Board, working collaboratively with
the four authorities, make decisions on a day-to-day
basis, on an annual basis with respect to the future of
health services in each region -
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. minister
to conclude his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: -
and how those programs should be delivered and the level
of budgets that they need to be able to support those,
Mr. Speaker.
Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I will put it very
plainly. Is there a document that shows that there was a
plan in place dealing with programs that was given to
the boards to start working with, and if not, why not?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, when the four authorities were created back in
2005 and under the transparency legislation, we would
have provided them a mandate. We would have put in place
the boards. We would have asked them to put together
their organizational structure to put in place and we
would have asked them to develop long-term strategies.
They would put together their action plans for a
three-year period. I think the first one was 2005 to
2008. We are in the midst now of developing one for 2008
to 2011. They present those to government as their broad
future directions that they would envisage taking their
boards and their respective regions. They would then ask
us for the necessary funding to be able to support that
program and support those initiatives, and that is what
the boards would have done.
So, when we created them
in 2005, we would have asked them, now you have your new
regions, you have a broad mandate, develop for us a
strategy now for you to implement the implementation of
the programs that you have been mandated to provide in
your respective regions -
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I ask the hon. minister
to conclude his answer.
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
So, that is the kind of
relationship we would have had and we would have asked
them to do that for us. We would have looked forward to
their submission of that strategy and we would have
provided the funding consistent with our fiscal capacity
to do it. |
