EDITORIAL: CHANGES TO NS HOSPITAL BOARDS

Recently I heard a sound bite on CBC Radio of Premier Darrell Dexter saying that he would not disband the hospital boards because it would cost too much. That was it. No details.

I immediately wrote a letter to the Chronicle Herald which was published. I wrote that the premier's statement was preposterous. Why not get rid of something which didn't work? And I would never vote NDP again.

Yesterday, I received a note from Steve Mattson, a former NDP candidate for Kings South. Here it is:


"Heather: heard your concerns re Hospital Boards.
The province has:

• frozen high end wages for administrators.
• reduced administration from 6.5% to 4.5% of the budget. All business functions such as payroll at done in Halifax.
• consolidated buying.
• The NDP looked at amalgamating the hospital boards and did the research. They found that super boards have failed where tried. Alberta is an example. The government had to buy out the members of the boards by paying each person two years salary - $100,000 each -  and then proceeded to rehire them at an additional cost. The NDP concluded that the benefits of amalgamation were not there. 
• Super Boards eliminiate local autonomy. 
• No Hospital Board members are now. Imagine the fees if a Super Board did come in."

Something to consider.
-Heather