1993 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
HONOURABLE ELIZABETH CULL
MINISTER OF HEALTH AND
MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR SENIORS
Contents
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HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
1 In this Act
"board" means a regional health board designated under section 4;
"community" means an area of British Columbia designated under section 6 as a community;
"community health plan" means a community health plan developed under section 7 by a council;
"council" means a community health council designated under section 6;
"municipal council" means, as the context requires, a council as defined by section 1 of the Municipal Act or the Council as defined by section 2 of the Vancouver Charter;
"Provincial standards" means the Provincial standards established under section 3 (1);
"public body" means
(a) a health district, a local board, a Metropolitan Board of Health, a regional board or a union board as defined by section 1 of the Health Act or a municipal council acting under the Health Act,
(b) a hospital as defined by section 1 of the Hospital Act,
(c) a board, a regional hospital district board, a district, a regional hospital district, a municipal regional board or a regional board as defined by section 1 of the Hospital District Act, or
(d) a Provincial mental health facility, a psychiatric unit or a society as defined by section 1 of the Mental Health Act or a mental health clinic or mental health service established by regulations under section 37 of that Act;
"region" means an area of British Columbia designated under section 4 as a region;
"regional services" means the health services specified under section 5 (1) (a) (i) for a region;
"specified services" means, for a region or community, the health services, or level or extent of health service, specified under section 3 (2).
2 This Act creates the first stage in the establishment of regional health boards and community health councils across British Columbia.
3 (1) The minister may, by regulation, establish Provincial standards for the provision of health services.
(2) The minister may, by regulation, specify a health service, or the level or extent of health service, that must be provided in a region or community.
(3) The minister must ensure under subsections (1) and (2) that health services in British Columbia continue to be provided on a predominantly not for profit basis.
(4) The minister must not act under subsection (1) or (2) in a manner that does not satisfy the criteria described in section 7 of the Canada Health Act (Canada) respecting public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility.
(5) Any grant to a board or council by the Provincial government must be made on condition that the board or council complies with all applicable regulations made under subsections (1) and (2).
4 (1) The minister may, by regulation, designate
(a) a regional health board, and
(b) an area of British Columbia that constitutes the region for the board.
(2) On designation under this section, a board is a corporation consisting of the following members:
(a) a prescribed number of members appointed by each council in the region from among the members of that council;
(b) a prescribed number of members appointed by the minister.
(3) Members of a board serve without remuneration but may be reimbursed for prescribed expenses necessarily incurred while discharging their duties as members of the board.
(4) A vacancy in the membership of a board does not impair the power of the remaining members to act.
5 (1) The purposes of a board are as follows:
(a) to develop and implement a regional health plan that includes
(i) the health services provided in the region, or in a part of the region,
(ii) the type, size and location of facilities in the region,
(iii) the programs for the delivery of health services provided in the region,
(iv) the human resource requirements under the regional health plan, and
(v) the making of reports by the board to the councils in the region and to the minister on the activities of the board in carrying out its purposes;
(b) to develop policies, set priorities, prepare and submit budgets to the minister and allocate resources for the delivery of health services, in the region, under the regional health plan;
(c) to administer, and allocate among the councils in the region, grants made by the Provincial government for the provision of health services in the region;
(d) to deliver regional services through its employees or to enter into agreements with the government or other public or private bodies for the delivery of those services by those bodies;
(e) to exercise the powers and perform the duties of a council in those parts of the region for which there is not a council established under this Act;
(f) to develop and implement regional standards for the delivery of health services in the region;
(g) to monitor, evaluate and comply with Provincial and regional standards and ensure delivery of specified services applicable to the region.
(2) In carrying out its purposes, a board must have due regard to
(a) the Provincial standards and specified services, and
(b) the community health plans for the communities in the region.
6 (1) The minister may, by regulation, designate
(a) a community health council, and
(b) an area of British Columbia that constitutes the community for the council.
(2) On designation under this section, a council is a corporation consisting of the prescribed number of members appointed by the minister as follows:
(a) 1/3 of the members chosen to represent the residents in the community;
(b) 1/3 of the members chosen from persons elected or appointed to, and nominated by, the boards of the regional districts, the municipal councils or the school boards in the community;
(c) 1/3 of the members nominated by the minister.
(3) Members of a council serve without remuneration but may be reimbursed for prescribed expenses necessarily incurred while discharging their duties as members of the council.
(4) A vacancy in the membership of a council does not impair the power of the remaining members to act.
7 (1) The purposes of a council are as follows:
(a) to develop a community health plan that specifies and provides for
(i) the delivery of health services in the community, and
(ii) the making of reports by the council to the board and to the minister on the activities of the council in carrying out its purposes;
(b) to coordinate and integrate health services in the community and
(i) to deliver those services through its employees, or
(ii) to enter into agreements with the government or other public or private bodies for the delivery of those services by those bodies;
(c) to operate hospitals and other facilities;
(d) to project future need for health services, to set priorities and to prepare and submit budgets to the board for the delivery of regional services in the community for which the council was established;
(e) to develop and implement community standards for delivery of health services in the community;
(f) to monitor, evaluate and comply with Provincial, regional and community standards and to deliver specified services applicable to the community.
(2) In carrying out its purposes, a council must have due regard to
(a) the Provincial standards and specified services, and
(b) the regional services.
8 (1) A board or council has the powers of a natural person of full capacity for the purposes of carrying out its powers, duties and functions under this Act.
(2) Subject to this Act and the regulations, a board or council may, by bylaw
(a) determine its own procedure,
(b) provide for the control and conduct of its meetings,
(c) provide for the election of officers of the board or council, including the chair and the member to be the acting chair in the absence of the chair,
(d) establish committees and specify the functions and duties of those committees, and
(e) delegate administrative or management duties to its employees.
(3) Meetings of a board or council are open to the public but the board or council may exclude the public from a meeting if the board or council considers that, in order to protect the interests of a person or the public interest, the desirability of avoiding disclosure of information to be presented outweighs the desirability of public disclosure of the information.
(4) The acquisition or disposal of real or personal property owned or administered by a board or council may only be done on authority of a bylaw of the board or council.
9 (1) If an order made or a standard set under this Act by a board or council conflicts with a regulation of the minister under section 3, the regulation of the minister prevails.
(2) If an order made or a standard set under this Act by a council conflicts with that of its board, the order or standard of the board prevails.
10 (1) Each council and board must establish and maintain an accounting system satisfactory to the minister and must, whenever required, render in the form specified by the minister detailed accounts of revenues and expenditures of the corporation for the period or to the day the minister designates.
(2) All books or records of account, documents and other financial records of a board or council must at all times be open for inspection by the minister or a person designated for that purpose by the minister.
(3) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations may direct the Comptroller General to examine and report to the Treasury Board on any or all of the financial and accounting operations of a board or council.
(4) The accounts of a board or council must, at least once in every year, be audited and reported on by an auditor who is qualified to be the auditor of a reporting company under the Company Act, and the costs of the audit must be paid by the board or council.
(5) A board or council must prepare in a form satisfactory to the minister, after the end of its fiscal year,
(a) a report of the board or council on its operations for the preceding fiscal year, and
(b) a financial statement showing the assets and liabilities of the board or council at the end of the preceding fiscal year and the operations of the board or council for that year.
(6) The financial statement referred to in subsection (5) must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and with regulations made under section 17 (2) (f).
(7) The Financial Information Act applies to each board and council.
(8) The fiscal year of each board or council is the period of 12 months beginning on April 1 in each year and ending on March 31 in the next succeeding year.
11 (1) A board or council may appoint officers and hire employees it considers necessary for the work of the board or council.
(2) The Public Service Act does not apply to a board or council or to a member, officer or employee of the board or council unless the Lieutenant Governor in Council, by order, specifies that it applies to the board or council and to some or all of the members, officers or employees of the board or council.
(3) A board or council may engage or retain specialists or consultants that the board or council considers necessary to carry out its powers, duties and functions of office and may determine their remuneration, and the Public Service Act does not apply to the retention, engagement or remuneration of those specialists or consultants.
12 (1) No action for damages lies or may be brought against a member, officer or employee of a board or council because of anything done or omitted in good faith
(a) in the performance or intended performance of any duty under this Act, or
(b) in the exercise or intended exercise of any power under this Act.
(2) Subsection (1) does not absolve a board or council from vicarious liability for an act or omission for which it would be vicariously liable if this section were not in force.
13 (1) Property vested in a board or council is exempt from taxation under the Municipal Act, the School Act, the Taxation (Rural Area) Act and the Vancouver Charter if the property is being used for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if
(a) the property was subject to taxation under the Municipal Act, the School Act, the Taxation (Rural Area) Act or the Vancouver Charter on the coming into force of this Act, and
(b) a regulation under section 17 (2) (i) does not apply.
(3) A board or council is exempt from taxation under the Social Service Tax Act for transactions undertaken for the purposes of this Act between the board or council and a public body, board or council.
14 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint a public administrator to discharge the powers, duties and functions of a board or council under this Act if the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers this to be necessary in the public interest.
(2) On the appointment of a public administrator, the members of the board or council cease to hold office unless otherwise ordered by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may specify
(a) the powers, duties and responsibilities of a public administrator appointed under this section,
(b) the terms and conditions for management of the property and affairs of a board or council during the transition period preceding the ending of the appointment of a public administrator, or
(c) how a board or council will operate after the ending of the appointment of a public administrator.
15 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Company Act and the Company Clauses Act do not apply to a board or council.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by order declare that provisions of the Company Act or Society Act apply to a board or council.
(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe that provisions of the Health Act, Hospital Act, Hospital District Act or Mental Health Act respecting a public body apply to a board or council and, for the purposes of applying the provisions to the board or council, all enactments shall be construed as referring to the board or council in place of the public body for which it substitutes.
(4) Despite subsection (3), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may not prescribe that provisions in sections 24 to 28 of the Hospital District Act apply to a board or council for the purpose of allowing the board or council to raise money by taxation, levy or requisition.
(5) If the Council of the City of Vancouver requests the establishment of a board or council, section 326 of the Vancouver Charter does not apply for the purposes of that board or council.
16 Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply to this Act or to the regulations made under this Act.
17 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations for the following purposes and respecting the following matters:
(a) the determination whether the members of a council appointed under section 6 (2) (a), or certain members of the board appointed under section 4 (2) (b), must first be elected and, if so, how the election must be conducted;
(b) the manner by which a council appoints the members of a board under section 4 (2) (a) despite a limitation or prohibition in another enactment;
(c) the prescribed expenses under sections 4 (3) and 6 (3);
(d) the exemption of a public body from a duty under an enactment to the extent that a board or council has assumed that duty under this Act;
(e) the services that may be performed by a board or council, or the employee or agent of a board or council, despite a prohibition established by or under the authority of another enactment;
(f) the practices or procedures that must be followed by a board or council in the conduct of its affairs;
(g) the manner, form and amount of insurance that must be maintained by a board or council;
(h) the inclusion of further purposes under section 5 for boards, or under section 7 for councils, that are consistent with the purposes specified in those sections respectively;
(i) the exemption of councils and boards from the obligation under an enactment to pay a fee or tax.
(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) to facilitate the transition of powers, duties and functions to boards and councils and the bringing into operation and effect of this Act,
(b) to enable a board or council to act under an Act referred to in section 15 (3) in place of a public body, and
(c) to enable a public body to transfer assets or liabilities to a board or council.
(4) An order made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council or the minister, or a regulation made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, that may be made under this Act may
(a) be made with reference to one board or council, a class of boards or councils or all boards or councils, and
(b) make different provisions for each board or council or for different classes of boards or councils.
18 Section 5 (2) of the Property Transfer Tax Act, S.B.C. 1987, c. 15, is amended by adding the following paragraph:
(k.1) to a board or council as defined by section 1 of the Health Authorities Act for the purposes of that Act; .
19 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
This Bill establishes an alternative way to plan for and deliver health services at the regional and community level and allows for a graduated transition into the new structures. Each region, and the communities within a region, will be able to set their own pace for the transition from the current administrative structures under statutes such as the Health Act, Hospital Act, Hospital District Act and Mental Health Act into the new regional health board and community health council structures.
This Bill creates the framework within which this transition process will proceed until 1995.
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