NH Board meeting: Northern Health operating with small surplus; next NH consultation to follow cancer discussion

Northern Health continues to have a small surplus as the organization enters the last quarter of its 2005-2006 fiscal year. At their meeting in Prince George, NH Board directors heard that the organization has a $1.4 million fiscal year-to-date surplus… which is 0.3 of a per cent of the Northern Health’s $484 million budget for 2005-2006.

“Through the winter, we see higher energy expenses which affect our overall bottom line, along with more acute activity due to the influenza season,” said NH Board Chair Jeff Burghardt. “Even so, Northern Health continues to plan for a balanced budget and we fully expect to achieve it.”

Planning is underway for Northern Health’s 2006-2007 operating budget. NH expects to receive funding letters from the BC Ministry of Health after the provincial budget is tabled in late February.

The Northern Health Board also received an update on the Premier’s consultation on Northern BC cancer services, which is set for March and April. Jeff Burghardt and UNBC President Charles Jago are co-chairing the process. Northern Health also continues to work with the BC Cancer Agency in on-going improvement of Northern BC cancer care services.

Given the importance of the upcoming cancer consultation, the Northern Health Board has supported rescheduling the next NH Community Consultation to the spring of 2007. The last Northern Health Community Consultation took place in 2004.

“Our Board members welcome input from stakeholders and communities across the region. While we were ready to conduct our next NH consultation this year, we didn’t want our organization’s process to interfere with the cancer consultation that will happen soon,” explained Burghardt.

“We look forward to the results of the cancer consultation which will assist in the development of our Northern Cancer Strategy. We will also conduct a broadly-based consultation in the spring 2007 that will focus specifically on Northern Health’s programs and services.”

Along with open-ended talks, some tentative focus areas for the 2007 Northern Health community consultation include 1) improving mental health and addictions services in the region, 2) strengthening primary care (typically the first point of access to the health system),  and 3) developing new community partnerships for health improvement.

The next meeting of the Northern Health Board will take place in March in Prince George. Northern Health plans to hold meetings in the Robson Valley (May), Terrace (July), and Fort Nelson (September) in 2006.

Media Contact: Mark Karjaluoto, Director of Communications: (250) 565-2694