B.C. launches efficiency review of health authorities, looks to rein in 'unnecessary administrative spending'

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 31, 2025 2:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

The British Columbia government says it is reviewing wellness authorization spending successful an effort to  "minimize unnecessary administrative spending" successful wellness attraction and absorption wealth connected front-line diligent care.

Premier David Eby instructed Health Minister Josie Osborne to reappraisal wellness authorities in his mandate missive to her earlier this year.

Health services successful B.C. are delivered done 5 determination wellness authorities — Northern, Interior, Fraser, Vancouver Coastal and Island — arsenic good arsenic the First Nations Health Authority and the Provincial Health Services Authority, which provides further shared services.

Each authority has its ain administrative staff, committee of governors and CEO.

WATCH | Review of healthcare costs welcomed by workers: 

Critics person said B.C.'s wellness administration is excessively bloated, with the state spending $1.8 cardinal connected health-care medication successful 2022, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

That is around $100,000 little than Quebec, which has 3.5 cardinal much radical than B.C..

B.C. Conservative Party concern professional Peter Milobar has pointed retired that determination are much than 70 residents and vice-presidents successful B.C.'s health-care administration, portion Alberta — which has astir 4 cardinal residents compared to B.C.'s 5 cardinal — has fewer than 10.

"There's a monolithic maturation that we're seeing successful medication and bureaucracy, not conscionable successful wellness attraction but crossed authorities implicit the past 7 years," helium told CBC News successful January. 

The B.C. Greens, who signed a co-operation agreement with the NDP aft the election, had previously pushed for a reappraisal of health-care authorization expenditures.

"There are acold excessively galore [vice-presidents], managers and executives with amorphous occupation descriptions," accidental the Greens on their website.

During an unrelated quality league connected Monday, Eby said helium expects wellness authorities to beryllium "lean."

"We expect them to beryllium operating successful a mode that delivers and focuses resources connected those front-line services."

He said portion of the reappraisal volition see making definite front-line unit person the accidental to talk up astir efficiencies and anxiousness from a applicable constituent of view. 

"We're going to effort to destruct arsenic overmuch of the furniture betwixt authorities and the front-line wellness workers arsenic we tin truthful that we tin present a health-care strategy that works for everybody."

The reappraisal comes arsenic exigency country closures that have agelong plagued parts of agrarian and bluish B.C. person crept into the Lower Mainland.

Health Minister Josie Osborne says the authorities wants to guarantee that all authorities are champion positioned to tackle the "complex challenges" facing the health-care system.

Osborne says every health authority in the state volition beryllium reviewed and that the authorities is committed to ensuring the authorities are functioning arsenic efficaciously and efficiently arsenic possible.

"That's wherefore we're reviewing each health authority to corroborate patients, their families and health-care providers are benefiting from the astir imaginable and the champion usage of resources directed to front-line diligent care," she said successful a quality release.

The ministry said in a quality merchandise that the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) volition be the archetypal to acquisition the reappraisal due to the fact that of its provincewide relation crossed the health system.

That includes services done B.C. Cancer, B.C. Children's Hospital, B.C. Women's Hospital and Health Centre, B.C. Emergency Health Services, B.C. Mental Health and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

The merchandise said PHSA president and CEO David Byres last week accepted a secondment reporting to Osborne to enactment connected eliminating anti-Indigenous racism in health care.

It said Dr. Penny Ballem has stepped retired of her relation arsenic committee seat astatine Vancouver Coastal Health to service arsenic PHSA's interim president and CEO, and volition pb the review.

The merchandise says Ballem volition "make recommendations and associated changes arsenic needed to reposition, streamline and optimize resources astatine the PHSA."