B.C. health-care leadership overhaul continues as formal reviews begin

B.C.’s health minister is taking a scalpel to the province’s health authorities in an attempt to increase efficiency and access to care.

A month after the head of Fraser Health was ousted, the CEO of the Provincial Health Services Authorities has been replaced as several board members are dismissed and a formal ministry review begins.

The New Democrats had promised to review health authority spending and decision-making on the provincial campaign trail in the fall, and on Monday Minister Josie Osborne announced PHSA would be the first to come under the microscope.

Both the health minister and the premier focused on the review rather than the change of leadership in the C-suite and in the boardroom.

Fraser Health board chair, Jim Sinclair, and several other members have “ended their terms”, according to Osborne, as have other board members at PHSA.

“Thank you so much to all the individuals who have served on health authority boards over the past years, welcome (to) the new members,” she said.

The CEO of PHSA, David Byres, was also removed from the post and replaced by Dr. Penny Ballem, who had served as Chair of Vancouver Coastal Health before being tasked with overseeing the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, then serving as a special advisor in the premier’s office.

A troubled health authority

It should come as no surprise that the Provincial Health Services Authority is the first to undergo scrutiny by the ministry of health. It’s one of seven health authorities in BC and oversees large, province-wide services including the BC Emergency Health Services, the BC Cancer Agency, BC Children’s Hospital, and the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Byres was installed as CEO at PHSA after his predecessor, Benoit Morin, oversaw questionable spending decisions that triggered a third-party investigation. Morin’s living expenses – plus the costs to recruit him – came under further scrutiny.

Under Byres leadership, the BC Ambulance Service failed to adequately prepare for the forecasted heat dome and the top two executives at BC Emergency Health Services were quietly reassigned. The value of the $10 million Health Emergency Management department also came into question in the aftermath.

What comes next

Changes at the top don’t come cheap. Osborne didn’t deny the severance package given to Dr. Victoria Lee after she was removed as Fraser Health CEO totalled one million dollars.

And while the premier didn’t directly address the revamping of boards and installation of acting CEOs at the two health authorities, he committed to hearing from frontline healthcare workers as the review process works its way through each health authority.

“The anxiety that I have is that the people who see the day to day of our health-care system, they have suggestions about how to make it better, but they haven’t been able to bring that forward,” said David Eby. “We’re going to try to eliminate as much of the layer between government and the front-line health workers as we can.”

Do you have an example of wasteful spending in your health authority? Email us