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Mike Murphy

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This week I want to talk about some of the members of the board involved with the Health Council and FacilicorpNB.

On Sept. 1, transformational changes designed to put the needs of patients first came into effect.

These changes were announced in March and the creation of the New Brunswick Health Council to facilitate citizen input and ensure accountability in health care and the consolidation under a new public-sector company of selected non-clinical services previously carried out by the health authorities.

In order to ensure that each of these new organizations operates effectively and efficiently, an open recruitment campaign was conducted to find New Brunswickers with the competencies and experience needed to oversee the New Brunswick Health Council and FacilicorpNB, which is the official name of the non-clinical shared services agency.

Competency-based boards are considered a best practice and are being utilized across the country by a growing number of not-for-profit and governmental organizations.

Competency-based boards are made up of members who are chosen based on the particular skill set or expertise needed to support the organization.

The move to competency-based boards recognizes the important role that board members have in the public health system.

The board members of the two RHAs, for example, are responsible for overseeing health-care ser vices worth $1.2 billion annually. This is the largest single expenditure of the Government of New Brunswick.

Applications were sought from those who can bring some combination of the skills and competencies essential to govern these organizations, such as a background in governance; accounting and finance; law; business management; labour relations and human resources; communications or public relations; and technology.

Our government believes that transforming our health system to put the needs of patients first will best be achieved with the participation of New Brunswickers with the requisite skills and competencies to serve on these boards.

The process to recruit and nominate board members has resulted in the appointment of highly competent people who will be key partners in advancing patient-focused health care in our province.

We have a tremendously strong group of people in place and I could write a dozen articles on their lengthy and impressive qualifications, but I would like to give you a snapshot from the Health Council and FacilicorpNB.

The full listing of board members is available on the Government website at http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/he/2008e1227he.htm.

The Health Council is chaired by Rino Volpé of Saint-Jacques. Before starting his own consulting company, he was a vice-president with J.D. Irving, Limited.

He is vice-president of the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick and vice-president of the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute.

Colleen Knudson (Health Council) of Saint John works in the health-care sector as a planning consultant for community programs.

She has a bachelor's degree in nursing and has worked in the health sector for almost 40 years. She has served on the boards of the Saint John Board of Trade and the New Brunswick Police Commission.

Roxanne Fairweather of Saint John is chair of FacilicorpNB. Fairweather is a vice-president of Bell Aliant and CEO of Innovatia Inc., a knowledge management company that serves more than 1,500 clients in 29 countries.

She serves as vice-chair of the board of governors of the University of New Brunswick.

Gilles Lepage (FacilicorpNB) of Caraquet is the former president and CEO of the Mouvement des caisses populaires acadiennes, a position he held between 1994 and 2004.

He served on the McKelvey-Levesque Commission that examined the future of health care in New Brunswick. He holds a bachelor of business administration degree from the Université de Moncton.

* Mike Murphy is the Provincial Health Minister and MLA for Moncton-North. His column appears bi-weekly in This Week. If you would like to reach him, stop by his office on Mountain Road or phone 869-6115.