Five years after the contentious firings of several researchers and contractors, the Ministry of Health is introducing a plan to boost low morale within its ranks.
In a memo sent to staff on Monday, deputy minister Stephen Brown introduced a “reconciliation program” aimed at improving productivity, morale and engagement.
The move follows a recommendation from B.C. ombudsperson Jay Chalke, whose 487-page report on the firings found the effects of a crusading investigation and wrongful firings have been felt beyond those directly affected.
The government has given apologies and compensation to the people who were fired.
“The report notes that the impacts on individuals arising from the investigations conducted by the Ministry of Health and the Office of the Comptroller General were widespread, resulting in fear, anxiety, loss of income and financial uncertainty, harm to reputation and careers, harm to relationships and, in some cases, health problems. The report also underscores the investigation had negative impacts within the Ministry of Health, some of which still exist,” the memo says.
Chalke’s report recommended the ministry develop an reconciliation program by Sept. 30.
“This paper is intended to provide a starting point for the development of a program of reconciliation and action, and is a personal request for each of you to become involved in a way that works for you,” the memo says.
The process, to be led by Deb Godfrey, executive lead for strategic management and organizational development, could begin with conversations among staff and managers that are open and frank, without worry about supervisors’ responses, the memo says.
After staff is consulted, an action plan is to be implemented in October.
The Ministry of Health declined an interview request.
Vancouver-Kingsway NDP MLA Adrian Dix, who, as health critic, sought a public inquiry into the firings, said the impending change in government wouldn’t prevent the reconciliation plan from being carried out.
If anything, the NDP government would go further in rehabilitating provincial health research to its former status, he said. He pointed to the NDP’s campaign promise regarding the University of British Columbia’s Therapeutics Initiative, a watchdog that assessed prescription drugs and had been credited with keeping provincial drug spending low.
The Therapeutics Initiative lost funding after the firings.
“We will ensure the Therapeutics Initiative has the resources it needs to do its job effectively, keeping drug costs down and patients safe,” the party’s platform says.
Dix said the investigation and firings have touched employees, health researchers and “everyone in the province.”
“The damage done is significant,” he said. “It will require obviously this and much, much more. … Certainly, given the sort of vigorous and central role that [NDP Leader John] Horgan and our party has played in seeking justice, it will be a high priority for us to see that’s dealt with.”
Chalke’s report describes what occurred at the ministry amid the firings as a kind of trauma, with a lasting scar. Unnamed staff members in the report describe a work environment plagued by fear and feelings of job insecurity.
“If someone is let for go for another reason, everyone just starts [saying]: ‘Holy cow, what’s happening?’ Must be the investigation all over again and it brings up scars,” one executive director told the ombudsperson’s office four years after the firings.
Those handling data were paralyzed in their jobs, with no explanation for why others in similar positions were fired, the report found. “As we heard repeatedly throughout our investigation, a common fear pervading the ministry was that: ‘If it could happen to them, I could be next,’ ” the report says.
The firings caused employees to lose faith in senior leadership, it says.
One employee says in the report: “Everybody [doing data analysis] will tell you they haven’t recovered.”
