By Mario deSantis, March 5, 2000

Saskatchewan health districts have been operating as puppets of both the government and the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO). Therefore, the incompetence and corruption of these two organizations has extended to the districts as well. And as the government and SAHO have an established record of breaking the law, so the districts developed their own brand for breaking the law: going into the red(1).

Last October, Saskatoon was experiencing a $9 million deficit(2), while Regina tabled a deficit of $22.5 million(3). Last week, in the midst of a provincial social unrest for rampant racism, the Yorkton's district, unable to meet its financial obligations, was taken over by an appointed public administrator(4). Today, we have a consultant's review of the operations of the Regina Health District stating that the previously expected operating deficit of $22.5 million should be revised to be $30 million(5). This review conducted by consultant Bert Boyd includes the following recommendations: Measures to strengthen leadership in the board and Senior Management; A contract between the district and government outlining expectations for achieving financial sustainability; Development of a three-year financial recovery plan; The reduction of various hospital support services; A special advisor to assist in implementation of the plan.

Minister of Health Pat Atkinson and Board Chair Anita Bergman agreed on the above mentioned recommendations and the Minister announced that she will fill three board vacancies with individuals having strong business skills and that Bert Boyd will be appointed as Special Advisor reporting to the minister.

So, this is the way to fix the health care system in Regina: call for an outside consultant's review, accept the consultant's recommendations, increase the leadership of Senior Management, use the 'written word(6)' in the form of a contract, cut services and staff, stick with the strategic financial plan, appoint a special advisor. Isn't it nice? Everything is on paper, there is only one small problem though, the strategic plan assumes the cooperation of the staff facing layoffs, and of the doctors.

Do you know Minister Pat Atkinson what happens when you assume too much? "You make an ass of u and me(7)" The President of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, Rosalee Longmoore, has stated that cutting staff is not a good idea(8). As doctors are concerned, they have been excluded in being active participants of health reform, they have been accused of being partially responsible for the death of some patients, they have opposed the grandiose project of the Saskatchewan Health Information Network (SHIN), and I don't think they like the policing attitude of this government either.

In conclusion, Boyd's strategic plan lacks the most important ingredient to connect the plan to the people who do the real day to day work, and these people are not either the bureaucrats or Senior Management, they are just the people who do their work by using common sense rather than using numbers and who connect to each other by telling their stories. Minister Pat Atkinson, you are not wearing clean underwear(9) yet, and I remind you that the Regina Health District is not an assembly factory, it should be a healthy community.

Saskatchewan health care, as well as Canada health care(10), is not underfunded, it is grossly mismanaged by our political and bureaucratic Big Brains(11) who are continuing to write off people and down size this province to greatness.

Endnotes

General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News

1. An Act respecting Health District, Section 31. Districts are not allowed '...to project an operating deficit...', The Queen's Printer, 1993, Regina, Saskatchewan

2. Saskatchewan Healthcare: Breaking the Law & Mismanagement, by Mario deSantis, January 20, 2000

3. Healthcare in Saskatchewan: Getting ready for re-reengineering and shifting the blame, by Mario deSantis, October 31, 1999

4. Saskatchewan Health Care: Mississippi Burning of the Year 1964, by Mario deSantis, February 25, 2000

5. REVIEW SPELLS OUT REGINA RECOVERY PLAN, Government News Release, Health - 86, March 2, 2000, http://www.gov.sk.ca/newsrel/2000/03/02-86.html

6. Premier Roy Romanow, a constitutional lawyer, has created a new form of political intelligence in the so called 'written word', that is a contractual directive-just or not just-sanctioned autocratically by an authoritarian office. Pat Atkinson, the Shortage of Nurses and the Rule of Law, by Mario deSantis, January 26, 2000

7. Simplicity The new competitive Advantage, by Bill Jensen, Perseus Books, page 49, January 2000 http://www.simplerwork.com/j/manifesto-read.html

8. Layoffs loom in Regina Health District, CBC Saskatchewan http://sask.cbc.ca/ Web Posted | Mar 2 2000 8:34 PM EST

9. A message for Health Minister Pat Atkinson: Wear Clean Underwear, by Mario deSantis, February 8, 2000

10. On Mismanagement of Health Care, by Mario deSantis, March 3, 2000

11. Healthcare Payroll and SAHO's Big Brains, by Mario deSantis, November 20, 1999