A wrongly fired former Health Ministry manager has been appointed to the board of Island Health.
Ron Mattson’s appointment, announced Friday by the B.C. government, was among changes for health authority boards across the province that saw the arrival of NDP allies and the departure of B.C. Liberal supporters. Four new board chairs and 11 new directors were appointed for the six health authorities.
Mattson is a seven-term View Royal councillor. He was working as a senior manager for the B.C. Health Ministry when he and seven others were fired in 2012 following what turned out to be a flawed investigation of alleged privacy breaches.
The government, under the B.C. Liberals, later apologized for the firings and paid compensation.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said Mattson, a 28-year Health Ministry employee, is an “outstanding choice” given his experience in health care and in the Health Ministry, his connection to the community, and his understanding of the system.
“He should never have been fired and the ombudsperson report shows the misconduct on the part of the previous government, but that’s not why he’s being appointed the board,” Dix said in an interview.
“He’s being appointed to the board because he’s an outstanding individual. I am really proud of the appointment.”
As an Opposition NDP member, Dix championed the defence of the fired Health Ministry workers.
Mattson said it was through that connection that he expressed interest in the Island Health board appointment.
“It’s a vindication.”
But 28 years of health experience and 22 years as an elected official “certainly qualifies me for the job,” he said.
“I enjoyed my time in health and the work I was doing, and this is a great opportunity to continue working in health care and, hopefully, make some improvements to the system.”
Leah Hollins, a former deputy minister of health, was appointed chairwoman of Island Health’s board. Hollins served on the Canadian Blood Services board and received the Order of Canada in 2014 for her efforts to improve organ donation.
Hollins replaces Don Hubbard and Mattson replaces Matthew Watson. Hubbard’s pay in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017, was $26,000, while Watson’s was $20,000.
Island Health is looking for a new chief executive officer after the departure of Brendan Carr from the job. Carr, hired in 2012, left in June to serve as president and chief executive officer of the William Osler Health System in Ontario.
Kathy MacNeil, Island Health’s executive vice-president for quality, safety and experience, is serving as interim president and CEO.
The list of appointments announced Friday also included labour leader Jim Sinclair. The former president of the B.C. Federation of Labour is the new chairman of the Fraser Health Authority. He has served on the Vancouver Health Board.
Cindy Stewart, a former vice-president of the federation and former president of the Health Sciences Association, was named as an Interior Health board member.
Frank Everitt, president of the United Steel Workers Local 1-424, was appointed to the Northern Health board.
Dr. Doug Cochrane, who led a review of Island Health’s controversial IHealth computer system, and professor emeritus in neurosurgery at the University of B.C., was appointed chairman of Interior Health. He has “enormous credibility,” Dix said.
Asked about appointing NDP allies and making changes for political purposes, Dix said the B.C. Liberals got rid of everybody on health boards when they were elected and “the downside of that is you essentially lose the organizational memory, the experience of all the people on the board.”
“As you look across the health authority boards, we made two or three changes on the boards so the majority are still those appointed or re-appointed by my predecessor, Terry Lake,” Dix said.
He said the appointments bring a diverse group of “individuals of the highest quality” to the health boards while maintaining the core group.
