Saturday, July 5, 2008

Still looking for a boss

By Dan Hilborn
Published Aug. 17, 2005


It could be several more months before the Fraser Health Authority has a new chief executive officer to replace Bob Smith, who was fired last February in a move that was described as an attempt to restore public confidence in the local health-care system.

The Los Angeles-based executive search firm of Korn-Ferry has been hired to help find the new CEO, and advertisements were placed in local and national newspapers during the month of June, said Barry Forbes, chair of the health authority's board of directors.

"It's probably going as expected," said Forbes, adding that the health authority has still not set a timeline for having a "short list" of candidates.

"The process is you start with a long list and then you go to a short list. We still haven't got to the long list yet," Forbes said.

The job posting has also been listed on Korn-Ferry's international website, and Forbes confirmed that he expects to see at least a few applications from outside of Canada.

However, Forbes also said that interim CEO Keith Anderson, a longtime health authority administrator who most recently served as vice-president of health planning for the region, is doing a "fine job" in his acting capacity.

Smith received a salary of $321,752 and worked for the Fraser Health Authority for about 18 months before his firing.

WORKERS JOIN UNION

Approximately 30 employees who work in food services, housecleaning and laundry at the Dania Home care centre in Burnaby learned this week that they will be rejoining the Hospital Employees' Union.

The workers, who have been employed by the UK-based Compass Group ever since their jobs were privatized more than two years ago, are expected to begin bargaining as soon as the certification vote is formalized by the Labour Relations Board.

"These workers have waited far too long to have the right to choose their own union recognized, and I'm thrilled that they've voted to join the HEU," union secretary-business manager Judy Darcy said in a press release issued last Monday.

Dania Home employees voted 80 per cent in favour of joining the union, while another 300 Compass employees who work at Children's and Women's Hospital, Sunnyhill Health Centre and the B.C. Cancer Agency voted 76 per cent in favour of joining the HEU.

While the ballots were cast more than 16 months ago, they were not counted until this month because the Labour Relations Board was dealing with a series of objections from Compass and the former Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers Union (IWA).

The Hospital Employees Union now represents more than 3,300 employees of Compass, Aramark and Sodexho, three foreign-owned corporations that have signed agreements with B.C.'s six health authorities during the past four years to take over the operation of services that were not in the field of direct patient care.

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