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VICTORIA – The government has introduced a simpler, more accountable structure for delivering health services, making the first major step toward fulfilling its New Era commitment to save and renew the province's public health-care system.
"This new model creates a strong foundation for making the changes that are required if we are to meet our goal of providing high-quality, patient-centred, sustainable health care," Health Planning Minister Sindi Hawkins said today. "Creating fewer, more accountable health authorities is only one in a series of changes, but it will help minimize the duplication of administrative services that are adding confusion and costs to health-care delivery in this province."
Hawkins said the former health governance model was one of the most complicated and expensive in the country, resulting in inefficient and often ineffective management of health-care resources. The former model had 52 separate health authorities and nearly 600 appointees to health boards, health councils and societies.
"The combination of small rural community councils and large urban health boards created huge disparities in terms of budgets, making it difficult to plan and deliver co-ordinated health care," Hawkins said. "It was clear we could not allow this fragmented approach to managing health care to continue and still deliver on our commitment to ensure our health-care system is sustainable and patient-centred."
The new structure furthers the government's New Era commitments to:
Hawkins said government reviewed several options for improving delivery of health-care services before deciding to move to a model that improved the critical mass of smaller regions. The new structure consists of health care being managed within 15 health service delivery areas and governed by five health authorities: Northern, Interior, Vancouver Island, Vancouver Coastal and Fraser.
A new Provincial Health Services Authority, with representation from the five health authorities, will be created to oversee co-ordination and delivery of highly specialized programs like cancer treatment and transplants. The two ministries of health will remain responsible for the overall planning and direction of the health-care system and ensuring health authorities are held accountable through new performance contracts.
Hawkins also announced the appointment of six new board chairs to govern the new authorities. Full boards for the new governance structures will be appointed over the next two to three months.
"In this time of growing demands on health care and increasing expectations from British Columbians, the public health system must be sustainable and able to meet their needs. A more focused, effective and efficient approach to the management of our health-care budget is essential," said Hawkins.
"These boards chairs have been selected for their leadership skills and strengths in business management," she said. "We need strong leadership at all levels if we are to save and renew our public health care system, and ensure British Columbians get the care they need."
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Contact:
Communications Branch Ministry of Health Planning 250 952-1887
More information on the new delivery system is available at http://www.healthplanning.gov.bc.ca/socsec/index.html.
A brochure outlining the changes is online at http://www.healthplanning.gov.bc.ca/socsec/new_era_sustain.pdf.
BACKGROUNDER #1 - THE PROVINCIAL HEALTH SERVICES AUTHORITY
RoleThe Provincial Health Services Authority is part of the new governance structure for B.C.'s public health-care system. It oversees the co-ordination and delivery of provincial programs and highly specialized health-care services.
Provincial programs include those services delivered by provincial agencies, such as the B.C. Provincial Renal Agency, to all B.C. residents.
Highly specialized services include resource-intensive services, such as heart, transplants and treatment of severe burns, which cannot be delivered in every community.
The provincial authority will work closely with the five new health authorities and the ministries of health to ensure that these programs are co-ordinated throughout the province, and that patient access issues are equitably addressed. New Structure The Provincial Health Services Authority will directly govern and administer the:
The authority will also enter into performance contracts with regional authorities whose hospitals deliver some of these services. Rationale Provincial programs and highly specialized services account for about a third of the province's spending on hospital care. Although they serve the entire province, most of these services are delivered by agencies located in Vancouver, with a few delivered in large regional hospitals.
Under the previous governance structure, a small number of health authorities were responsible for these services, making it difficult to effectively plan or co-ordinate equitable delivery to all British Columbians. With the participation of the five new health authorities, the new provincial authority will be better able to fairly administer and deliver these services.
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BACKGROUNDER #2 - RESTRUCTURING B.C.'S HEALTH AUTHORITIES
What's ChangedBackground Since 1997, the management and delivery of most health-care services in British Columbia has been the responsibility of a confusing array of health boards, councils and service societies. One of the most complicated and expensive in the country, this governance model has contributed to a variety of patient problems including:
What's ChangingThe 52 existing health authorities will be merged to form a new governance and management structure with:
Advantages of the New Structure Five strong, accountable health authorities, encompassing 15 health service delivery areas, will make the changes needed to ensure patient care in B.C. is:
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BACKGROUNDER #3 - ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NEW HEALTH AUTHORITIES
Overview B.C.'s new health governance structure consists of a Provincial Health Services Authority, and five governance health authorities, namely:
Within these five health authorities are 15 health service delivery areas, to reflect the province's geography, as well as patient and physician referral patterns.
Roles and Responsibilities
Governors of the five health authorities are primarily responsible for:
Senior staff for the 15 health service delivery areas are responsible for:
The Provincial Health Services Authority is responsible for:
The ministries of Health Services and Health Planning are primarily responsible for:
Together the ministries of health, the Provincial Health Services Authority and the five geographic health authorities share responsibility for ensuring all health-care programs are effectively and efficiently planned, delivered, monitored and evaluated on behalf of the residents of British Columbia.
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