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 Michael Miltenberger |
"We have decided to defer the re-establishment of the board until after the new (territorial) government takes office," said Health Minister Michael Miltenberger.
Yellowknifer was alerted to the decision last week when a copy of an internal memo signed by Miltenberger was faxed to its office.
The minister said he felt there was no point in restoring the board without having a clear definition of its role.
"In all likelihood the next government will review the role of boards, so it makes sense to wait until that takes place."
The issue of health and education boards has been hotly debated in the legislative assembly for the last several years.
Miltenberger says there has been some support for doing away with boards altogether, but he isn't sure what course the next government will take. "What we need to do is rationalize how we do business," said Miltenberger.
"Boards and authorities consume huge amounts of the budget ... and we have to establish whether or not they are justified."
The decision is an about-face for the GNWT, which in May supported the idea of restoring the Stanton board.
"The (purpose of) the Stanton Territorial (Health Authority) board structure is to represent the all the territory and it's pretty hard to do that with just administration," said deputy minister of health Dave Murray at the time.
"You just don't get the same broad opinions."
But on Wednesday Miltenberger said the current set-up still gives the public a say in the administration of health care and social services.
"Members of the community are still able to participate in the process," he said.
The Stanton Territorial Health Authority has been operating without a board since last November, when members fired CEO Dennis Cleaver and then voted to dissolve itself.
The authority is now being run by Miltenberger, Stanton Hospital chief executive officer Al Woods and a committee of regional representatives.
