Two boards | Reducing health authorities pays off, says minister

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By ADAM BOWIE
bowie.adam@dailygleaner.com

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Health Minister Mike Murphy says the days of running huge budgetary deficits in New Brunswick's regional health authorities are numbered now that he's introduced changes.

Murphy said he believes the decision to reduce New Brunswick's regional health authorities from eight entities to two will get the authorities out of the red within a couple of years.

"I'm extremely confident that (the deficits) will be reined in within two fiscal years," he said.

The two provincial health authorities will also trim administrative costs, consolidate some positions, and explore new ways to make the most out of their current resources.

Murphy said the changes have already produced substantial savings in the short time they've been in place.

"Only 3½ months into the new structure, the deficits of the previous health structure are down over 20 per cent," he said.

"Last year it was $48 million - this year it's down to $40 (million)."

Donald Peters, CEO of Regional Health Authority B, said the health authorities understand things have to change and are taking steps to make that happen as soon as possible.

"Our board has made a commitment that we have to come up with a balanced budget," he said.

"That means we have to work closely with the Department of Health. We have to work closely with our sister Regional Health Authority A. One of the good things about this restructuring is that we're no longer working in eight separate vacuums ... We've got to work at these things together."

Peters said his board is completing a review of the services offered throughout its coverage area.

He said that means the region's management team will be looking at every facility and trying to identify good and bad practices and areas of efficiency and waste.

"I always say that before you can move forward, you've got to know where you were in the past," he said.

"Part of our process is determining why we are doing this, or why we're doing that. We've already identified some areas where we've been able to consolidate (positions) through vacancies and replacements.

"What we're trying to do is work more efficiently with what we have now instead of reducing it."

Peters said the process has given his team the chance to learn about what their colleagues in other parts of the province have been doing.

"When you're focused on your own region, you just don't know what's out there," he said.

"It's amazing how much we used to live in this little bottle of our own health authorities, and we really didn't know some of the great things that were happening in other places."

He said the transition has gone more smoothly than what was originally expected.

"I'll be honest with you. I wondered how this would really be accepted," he said. "Will everybody fight against it? Will it be an uphill battle and we'll never get to the top?"

But Peters said he's been pleasantly surprised in the last few months by the willingness of the staff to move forward and find ways to work with their counterparts from across the province.

Tory health critic Margaret-Ann Blaney said she's not convinced the changes have been a smart economic move.

She said there have been cuts in some areas and new costs in others.

"Since they've moved from eight to two they have instituted a centralized operational plan which has seen hospital administrators and vice-presidents now travelling to Fredericton, staying at hotels, and then going on to the Miramichi," she said.

"The money that's being spent on travel time, hotel time, and meal time is all a major expense."

Murphy said provinces such as Alberta are following New Brunswick's lead by introducing similar measures. He said that's because they see the changes as necessary innovations.

Murphy said that makes it an exciting time for health care in the province.

"By the end of 2009, we'll have real-time wait time schedules on the Internet for all hospitals so if you decide you want to get your knee operated on in Perth, or the (Georges-L. Dumont Hospital in Moncton), you'll know where the wait time is the lowest," he said.

"We have pharmacists prescribing now, which will lighten the load for physicians and nurses. We have mid-wives coming online ... The e-health initiative is on track and by the end of next year we'll have the 'one-patient, one-record' for all the hospitals. We'll be the first Canadian province to have that."