MUHC board resignations leave '1st-class institution' facing leadership void

Health MinisterGatanBarrette's top-down management style is coming under scrutinyfollowing the resignation of more than half theboard members at theMcGillUniversity Health Centre.

Paul Brunet, a leading advocate for patients' rights, said the resignation of 10 independent board members, announced Tuesday, reflects the often counterproductive approach Barrette takes with health careinstitutions.

"He's the boss, and he wants to show everyone that he is," said Brunet, spokesperson for the Council for the Protection of Patients.

• More than half of MUHC board quits, citing Health Minister Gatan Barrette's refusal to engage

The resignations leavetheMUHC, a major Montreal teaching hospital networkwith a budget of $850 million, witha gaping leadership void, without a board chairand with onlynine remaining members, as well asan interim president and executive director,MartineAlfonso.

NormandRinfret, who stepped down as the MUHCpresident and executive directorlastSeptember, has yet to be replaced.

MUHCstill providing top-level care: Barrette

Board members complained thatBarrette had, in recent months,ignoredrequests for meetings and failed to returncorrespondence.

Healso failed tosharereports on theMUHCcommissioned by the Health Ministry, one of which recommended putting the institution in trusteeship, before eventually making them public.

Under Bill 10, legislation passed by theCouillardgovernment, Barrette will be able to replace the board members with appointees of his own a prospect that will appeal to thehealth minister, Brunet said.

Brunet saidBarrette's approach is"not isolated to the McGill hospital."

"It is very sad, because we're losing some great competency," he said of the resigning board members.

For his part,Barrette told CBC Montreal's Daybreak the resignations were "not something that I was looking for, but we have to turn the page."

"TheMUHC,as we speak today, is and will remain a world-class hospital providing absolutely top-level care, and that hasn't changed today," he said Wednesday.

Barrette maintained,however, that the MUHC's finances need to be put back in order.The institutionfaced a $115-million deficit in 2012-2013 and has "nevergot back to where it should be," he said.

Deficits and disagreements

Glenn Rourke, one of the board members who resigned, disputed Barrette's claim that the MUHChad been subject to chronic deficits.

"We had a balanced budget in 2014, and there was disagreement after the move to the Glen site," he said, referring to disputes over funding since the move to the new superhospital.

In Rourke's view, the biggest factor leading to the resignations wasthe health minister's silent treatment.

"We didn't get answers back when we made calls,emailsor letters to his office," he said.

"It's critical for theMUHC, which is a billion-dollar organization. We've got to have really close working relationships with the ministry and the minister, and we felt in the past months that it had broken down."

Geoffrey Chambers, vice-president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, a leading voice in the anglophone community, said he's hopeful the resignations can eventually bring a resolution to the "crisis" of funding and morale at the MUHC.

"It's a really big deal to have this first-class institution in the community, and it's got to run well," he said.

"Three years ago, four years ago, the MUHCwouldn't have been singled out as having a problem with the provincial government. Everybody had a problem with the provincial government."

"One by one, they found a way of having a dialogue with the government and sorting it out."