A Toronto physician’s decision to quit the Alberta Health Services Board gets full marks from the Red Deer man who was first to leave.
Dr. Andreas Laupacis announced his resignation on Monday, citing political interference as his chief reason for leaving.
In a letter submitted to Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky, Laupacis said he had accepted the appointment with the understanding that Alberta Health Services was to be an independent body, responsible for delivering health care in the province’s hospitals, chronic care facilities and public health units.
Those sentiments echo precisely those of Red Deer homebuilder Gordon Bontje, who announced his resignation on Nov. 24, the same day that the AHS board parted ways with economist Stephen Duckett, its president and CEO.
Bontje said on Monday that he quit because he wanted to make a point.
“I don’t want to be a part of an organization where these kinds of pressures are exuded for inappropriate reasons that force us to take decisions that I don’t think are in the public’s best interest,” he said.
The board announced Duckett’s departure after Zwozdesky and Premier Ed Stelmach publicly chastised him for his infamous ‘I’m eating my cookie’ reaction to news reporters, saying they found it offensive.
Whether or not Duckett was ousted for embarrassing political leaders “doesn’t pass my smell test,” Bontje said on Monday.
It would have been inappropriate for Duckett to respond to the reporters’ questions because the were asking his opinion of MLA Raj Sherman, who was booted from the Tory caucus after criticizing Alberta’s delivery of health care, he said.
“He should have politely said, ‘No comment,’” said Bontje.
Duckett is not politically astute, but he was the right man for the job, he said.
Any questions about Duckett’s leadership could have waited until it was time to renew his contract, sparing AHS the $680,000 in severance pay that he will receive as a result of his early departure, said Bontje.
AHS is still grappling with the merger of 12 regional boards into one provincial board, a difficult process that needed Duckett’s expertise, he said.
The process is far from complete. Still in the works is the merger of the payroll systems and financial plans from all 12 large organizations. Once all of those details have been finalized, AHS will be one of the largest employers in the country, said Bontje.
Putting those pieces together will fall on the shoulders of the remaining board members and the new people appointed to replace the four who resigned, he said.
“Failure is not an option. (AHS) has to recover. The organization is going to survive for the sake of all of us, and it is going to have to have some governance.”
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com