The news out of Alberta that the health minister there has fired the entire Board of Alberta Health Services should serve as a wakeup call for those who are pushing the idea of a so-called “superboard” here in Nova Scotia.
CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh says, “The superboard model has caused major upheaval in Alberta, culminating in today’s dramatic developments.”
Earlier this week, the board of Alberta Health Services openly defied the health minister there by refusing to claw back bonus payouts they were generously giving to 99 very high-paid executives.
Says Cavanagh, “Alberta’s doctors have been openly critical of the new governance model, charging it’s led to skyrocketing wait times and emergency rooms on the verge of what one internal report warned was near collapse.
“As for cost-savings, the first full fiscal year with that new health authority in charge in Alberta saw administration costs rise to $390 million, an increase of $46 million over one year,” he says.
“This troubling development certainly puts recent proposals from our province’s opposition parties to replace Nova Scotia’s existing District Health Authorities with our very own health superboard into a whole new light,” says Cavanagh.
Cavanagh says rural Nova Scotia definitely does not want to see its voice and its decision-making ability on vital health care issues centralized in Halifax.