"The environment at Stanton had become so poisoned that it was clear the CEO and this board were not going to be able to work together going forward," said Yellowknife South MLA Brendan Bell.

Hospital CEO Dennis Cleaver was fired and the board of directors dissolved last Wednesday following a damning operational review that blamed management for some of the territory's health-care woes.

A number of MLAs met twice with Health Minister Michael Miltenberger in the two days preceding the announcement, giving them a clear indication of the events which would eventually transpire.

"This board in particular was so politicized it just got to be too much of a problem," said Great Slave MLA Bill Braden. "Somebody coined the suggestion that it looks like a murder-suicide, and I think that's not a bad description."

Braden said the board never operated under a clear mandate: the government called it a "board of management" while the board itself said it was a "board of governance."

The differences in authority and accountability between the two models are significant.

"There's just been a chronic issue of conflict and confusion over who had what kind of responsibility. The question hasn't been answered -- it's just been eliminated now. And I think that's for the better," he said.

Boot Lake MLA Floyd Roland held out hope that the fallout from political executions wouldn't tumble into hospital rooms.

"This is a management issue," he said. "I hope that patient care still remains with the professionals that are dealing with it day to day."