A key member of the health board has been missing in action, even as the board works to slay spending practices that brought on an outside review.
London Coun. Stephen Orser has missed six of the eight meeting in 2013, including a critical one earlier this month when the board first looked at a report that might pave the way to major changes in how tax dollars are spent and managed.
Asked why he missed three regularly scheduled meetings and three more meetings added to the calendar to deal with urgent issues, Orser made no excuses, promising to do better.
“I missed meetings and it’s nobody’s fault but my own,” he said late last week.
Orser has missed almost as many meetings as the 10 other board members combined.
The other members — who include representatives of the city, the county and provincial appointees — have collectively missed seven meetings this year.
“I can say I’ve noticed his absence,” said Middlesex-London Health Unit board chairperson Marcel Meyer, who is also Deputy Mayor of Thames Centre.
So far, the matter hasn’t been addressed by the board, though, Meyer said.
“I know that in general terms the board will always be concerned when members are absent because the best decision is made by having a whole board participate in discussions, but as a council member, . . .we all have individual issues.”
Many municipal councils have a rule that someone who misses three consecutive meetings without notification or explanation risks expulsion from council.
But Meyer wasn’t sure if that applies to the health board. “I’m not aware of what our policy is on that. I know what the policy is township-wise: if we miss three meetings, there is an issue, But I’m not sure what our policy is.”
He said the board will need to take a look at its policies and next steps.
“The reality is if we are appointed to a board or to an organziation, we need to commit to that or otherwise we shouldn’t take on that appointment, But we all have busy lives and we all have times . . . there are things that come up that limit your ability to do everything at once.”
Orser’s absences come at a time when health unit needs the input of all its board: After a decade in which its budget soared, the Middlesex-London Health Unit faces a new era of fiscal restraint with local taxpayers still faced with a tab whose share is larger than most in the province.
Dr. Christopher Mackie, hired as the medical officer of health upon the retirement of Dr. Graham Pollett, took the reins in May and promised to focus on making public health more efficient.
In a review commissioned by the board after pressure was applied by city and county officials, Price-WaterhouseCoopers delivered a preliminary report that found bureaucrats were driven too often to spend money because they had it rather than to meet the specific needs of public health.
The private firm is expected to report back later this year on a contentious issue: whether London or Middlesex County might take over some administrative functions such as payroll and human resources to reduce their costs.
A budget battle with the city and county has been in the works since 2004, when Ontario’s Liberal government, worried about SARS, boosted funding for public health and expected health boards to lighten the load on local taxpayers to 25% of their tab.
That target was reached by about half of Ontario’s health units, but the Middlesex-London Health Unit isn’t on pace to get there until 2023.
Increased provincial funding has enabled the health unit’s budget to grow to $22.6 million from $14.2 million in 2003 -- local health officials say they were making up lost ground compared to other health units.
http://www.lfpress.com/2013/05/26/stephen-orser-vows-to-better-his-attendance-at-middlesex-london-he...
