Task Force on Regionalized Health Care Announced
Halifax physician Dr. Richard Goldbloom will head a task force to review the current structure for health-care delivery in Nova Scotia, Health Minister Dr. Jim Smith announced today. The task force will begin work soon.
In June government members supported a resolution in the provincial legislature requesting that such a task force be set up. Reporting to the minister of health, the task force will examine the current approach to delivering health care in Nova Scotia, recognizing that regionalization is relatively new. The group will put forward recommendations, strategies and options for improving the health care delivery system.
"Nova Scotia's current regionalized system has had many successes," Dr. Smith said. "We've been able to reduce the number of administrators in the system, develop common standards and promote cost-savings through measures such as bulk purchasing. However, there are concerns that communities are somewhat disconnected from decision-making and accountability has been eroded. These concerns cannot be ignored."
Dr. Smith said members of the task force include both health-care consumers and providers.
Task force chairman Dr. Richard Goldbloom is Professor of Pediatrics at Dalhousie University and a member of the consulting staff at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Center. He previously served as physician-in-chief at the IWK Hospital for Children and is a former president of the Canadian Pediatric Society. He is also a member of the Children's International Medical Service's board of directors and he is an officer of the Order of Canada.
Other board members include Jim Perkin, chair, western regional health board; Doug Clarke, CEO, Medical Society of Nova Scotia; Dr. Nuala Kenney, director, Bioethics Education and Research, Dalhousie University; George Kyte, chair, Strait-Richmond community health board; Cathy Randall, Nova Scotia Government Employees Union; Sheila Scaravelli, director, patient care services, Aberdeen Hospital, New Glasgow; Roxie Smith, hospital foundations representative; Dr. Paul McGuire, physician, Kingston, N.S.; John Henderson, former chair, northern regional health board; David Smith, public-at-large, Dartmouth; Kathleen McIntosh, public-at-large, Sydney; Keith Menzies, long term care representative.
Today's announcement follows the appointment last month of 12 members to sit on the Nova Scotia provincial health council. Dr. Smith said the two announcements are part of the government's ongoing efforts to ensure an open and accountable health-care system with patient care its primary concern.