Howard Associates Appointed to Undertake Clinical and Corporate Governance Review

Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announces that Howard Associates has been appointed following a local and international procurement process, to undertake a Clinical and Corporate Governance Review of BHB. The selecting panel included senior leadership, Board representation and the Ombudsman for Bermuda.

Howard Associates is a Canadian firm, based in Toronto, with over 25 years of experience in management consulting in healthcare. Other clients include Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital – Toronto Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver General Hospital and the Royal Ottawa Hospital, amongst many others.

The process starts on Monday 5 November, with the investigation and review phase expected to be completed by the end of the year. A final report will be returned by the end of January 2013. The cost of the review is under $100,000. Community members can have input into the process by forwarding their concerns and issues to the Ombudsman for Bermuda, who will also review the process on a weekly basis as well as providing public commentary on the final report.

The scope of the project includes:
• The Board and Senior Management Team – composition, team working, effectiveness
• Training, knowledge and information for members
• Board sub-committees particularly current Governance Committee and Medical Staff Committee
• Accountability, reporting lines and delegation of authority
• Transparency and disclosure requirements in addressing potential conflicts of interest
• Contractual and managerial arrangements for physicians
• Processes for providing assurance on Clinical Governance
• Robustness of financial and procurement controls
• Use of performance indicators and appropriateness to the delivery of organisational goals
• Use of benchmarking data
• Use of health industry efficiency tools e.g. demand and capacity planning
• Scope and effectiveness of risk management arrangements

The Hon Michael Winfield JP, Chair of the Board’s Governance Committee, comments: “This review will provide us with independent, best practice advice. The Board and senior management are extremely serious about BHB being accountable, cost-effective and transparent, while keeping the quality of patient care at the very heart of our processes. The interview team were impressed with Howard´s proposal and with their interview and we look forward to the review identifying where we have strengths, and where we can improve.”

Mrs Venetta Symonds, Chief Executive Officer of BHB, comments: “We are looking forward to working with the experienced team from Howard Associates and expect concrete actions to come out of this review. In the interests of transparency and accountability, we will publish the final report in full and I want to thank the Ombudsman for Bermuda for her role in this process. Although BHB is funding the review, the Ombudsman will be an impartial observer to the entire process and she will report back publicly to Parliament and the Governor in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Act.”

Howard Associates has assembled a highly experienced group of individuals. The team will be led by James H. Langstaff, who has over 25 years of experience performing hospital and health care consulting, strategic planning, corporate governance, operational reviews, organizational studies, and revenue generation assignments in the health care industry. He has co-ordinated consulting teams for over 25 years.

Mr Langstaff will be supported by Phil Hassen. Mr Hassen has extensive experience in a wide range of health care management areas including patient safety, benchmarking, corporate governance, accountability, planning, and evaluation. He has served as hospital CEO and health care leader in three provinces and was Ontario Deputy Minister of Health. He currently also serves as Health Innovator – in Residence in the Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership within the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Other team members include:
Mike Prociw and Rae Jerome, who have extensive experience in financial and data analysis and have recently undergone extensive operational reviews and corporate governance reviews in their organizations.

Leslie Brown, who is an experienced clinician with over 30 years experience in nursing management and served for over ten years as Vice President, and chief Nursing officer at Lake of the Woods hospital in Kenora, Ontario.
Brenda Fitzgerald, who has served as hospital CEO and an assistant deputy minister of health.

Jane Parkinson, a certified professional coach and facilitator with extensive experience in the health care sector and will assist us with facilitation tasks for group stakeholder sessions in January 2013.

Mark Balcaen, who has been a CEO in both Manitoba and Ontario.

Gary Zalot, who has spent over 25 years as the health of the Niagara District Health Council and in that capacity, was heavily involved in planning and all aspects of corporate governance issues for all hospitals in the Niagara Region.

The group undertaking the review will also confer with very senior members of the health care team, including Doug Snedden, past CEO Sick Children’s hospital Toronto, Dr. Alexader Barron, physician and paediatric oncologist, Mr. Joseph Mapa, President Mount Sinai Hospital, Mr. Malcolm Moffat, Executive Vice President Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Mr. Alvin Libin, past Chairman of the Board of Foothills hospital, Calgary, Dr. Clarence Guenter, past Dean of Medicine University of Calgary and past Head of the Department of Medicine Foothills hospital.

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