Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, August 6, 2007

HAY RIVER - On June 11, Health and Social Services Minister Floyd Roland appointed an interim public administrator to oversee the delivery of health care and social services in Hay River.

That appointee is Gregory Cummings, the assistant deputy minister with the department.

Gregory Cummings is the interim public administrator of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Cummings replaced the board of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. The board was placed in abeyance until Nov. 30 so several issues troubling the organization could be dealt with.

On Aug. 2, Cummings discussed his new role with News/North.

News/North: Why were you appointed interim public administrator?

Gregory Cummings: In the Hospital Insurance and Health and Social Services Administration Act, there's a specific section that gives a list of reasons why the minister may appoint a public administrator.

There are a couple of specific things in there that relate to this. One was that a couple of the board members had resigned. Another one was that there were concerns about the relationship between the staff and the board, and that those concerns might be affecting the ability of the authority to get on with its business and to continue to develop the strategic plan of the authority.

N/N: Was appointing a public administrator just to give things a break?

G.C.: Usually when a public administrator is appointed it's an opportunity for whatever the issues are to kind of settle down and for there to be work done just to stabilize the operation and make sure that service delivery continues in a seamless way.

So the intention is to give a kind of cooling off period, sort out what the issues are and then get things back on track.

N/N: What sorts of problems existed?

G.C.: All I know is that the CEO had resigned, so that's an indication that there may be a problem when a CEO resigns, especially after having been here for a short period of time. The board itself expressed concerns about the CEO. So that was a two-way street. So that's an indicator that the government might take a closer look at the operations, because our primary concern is that health and social services are being delivered to the public.

The minister has a responsibility to ensure that those things happen.

Those were the primary indicators and there were also some issues around planning for the redevelopment of the hospital, which all health authorities do on a regular basis. It's called master development planning. So there were some issues around agreeing on number of beds and that type of thing that need to be resolved in a timely way so that the government can set aside the appropriate funding to allow that to happen.

N/N: What are your duties as public administrator?

G.C.: My duties, during the interim, are to ensure that health and social services continue to be delivered in accordance with the legislation and policies that the Government of the Northwest Territories has in place, and to look into any specific concerns that may have been expressed at the time of the appointment of the public administrator. In this particular case, there were concerns expressed about, for example, contracts for housing that may have been put into place without proper tendering process.

That type of thing.... It's basically to stabilize the operation and to look at anything that might appear to be irregular and to make sure that it isn't, and to correct it if it is, and to account to the public.... Immediately when I took up the position I engaged an auditor to review any and all of the concerns that were expressed by the board. Those are currently being audited and I'm just waiting for a report on that.

N/N: Have you made any changes in the operation of the health and social services authority?

G.C.: It's actually not the role of the public administrator to make changes to the operation, nor is it really the role of the board.

The role of a board and the role of a public administrator is to deal with the strategic direction and to empower and facilitate the work of administration. It's the responsibility of the CEO and staff to do the work of health and social services....

So the way that I'm trying to be supportive is to reassure the staff and the public that immediate steps are being taken to recruit a CEO. I've done that. I've advertised in the North and nationally to look for a replacement CEO. I've also appointed an interim CEO, Al Woods, who will start on Tuesday morning.

N/N: Have you tackled the issue of recruiting permanent doctors?

G.C.: Here in Hay River, it's been pointed out as an ongoing particular issue and one that needs attention. It will certainly be a priority for me, the interim CEO and the new CEO to try to stabilize the operations.

N/N: One of the concerns raised by the board has been the future of H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital - the number of beds, etc.

They seem to suggest that despite disagreements they had with the territorial government in the past on those issues, there may be decisions made now by you as a member of the GNWT which they wouldn't make. Will you be making big decisions about the future of the hospital?

G.C.: It's not a decision that would be necessarily made in isolation by either a board or the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The Hay River Health and Social Services Authority doesn't have the resources to be able to redevelop or build a new hospital. It has to do that in consultation with the Government of the Northwest Territories.

So what I would be doing is continuing the consultation process and making sure that we meet the deadlines to secure the appropriate capital funding to do both planning and design and construction.... So I'll just keep the process going, but I won't necessarily be veering off and making decisions that the board of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority may or may not have made.