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Peter Clarkson replaces Paddy Meade
as public administrator; board to come after territorial election Nathalie Heiberg-Harrison Northern News Services Published Monday, September 26, 2011
"Once the minister establishes a new board I'll get a letter saying, 'Thank you very much,'" he said. Clarkson, who currently serves at the GNWT's regional director for the Beaufort Delta and Sahtu, was appointed to the position on Sept. 19. He replaces Paddy Meade, who resigned as deputy minister of health and social services and as public administrator for the regional authority. Debbie DeLancey will take over as interim deputy minister until December. As public administrator, Clarkson will supervise Jane Smith and Roger Israel, who are interim CEOs. Smith, who is director of client services for the health authority, and Israel, who is director of finance and operations, took over as joint CEOs after Deborah Tynes was fired from the position on Aug. 29. According to Damien Healy, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Services, the CEO hiring process is in effect. In the interim, Clarkson said he will begin to address some of the challenges the health authority is facing. "The big challenge is the budget," he said. "Health care has increased in cost over the years and so the health authority has been operating in a deficit. The challenge there is to find the additional money that's needed to run the health authority, but also to look at ways we can be more efficient, with cost saving measures that we can put in place." In May of last year the GNWT suspended the board, which served as the health authority's public face, over a variety of issues. At that time, members of the board expressed concern that the communities would be left without a say. "The board brings in more people from the different communities so I think you get a broader input, where a public administrator is just one person, so I think there's pros and cons," Clarkson said. "The long-term goal is to establish a board." He added that taking over as public administrator while still acting as the GNWT's regional director would demand good time management skills. "It's a huge learning curve just to see what some of the issues are and to be able to provide whatever support and information the CEOs need. I think there will be some learning and I think once the new CEO's in place then we will move forward at that point," he said. "When you're 'acting' you have your current job to do, and then on top of that you're doing the CEO's job, so it's a bit more complicated."
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