Minutes - September 21, 2023 - Governance Committee Meeting

Members Present: 

Michelle Smibert (Chair)
Matthew Newton-Reid
Michael Steele
Aina DeViet
Emily Williams, Chief Executive Officer (ex-officio)
Dr. Alexander Summers, Medical Officer of Health (ex-officio)

Regrets:

Tino Kasi

Others Present:

Carolynne Gabriel, Executive Assistant to the Medical Officer of Health (recorder)
Sarah Maaten, Director, Office of the Medical Officer of Health
Marc Resendes, Acting Manager, Strategy, Planning and Performance
Cynthia Bos, Manager, Human Resources
Lilka Young, Human Resource Advisor, Health and Safety

At 6:03 p.m., Committee Chair Michelle Smibert called the meeting to order.

Sarah Maaten introduced Marc Resendes, Acting Manager, Strategy, Planning and Performance.

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest

Chair Smibert inquired if there were any disclosures of conflict of interest. None were declared.

Approval of Agenda

It was moved by Michael Steele, seconded by Matthew Newton-Reid, that the AGENDA for the September 21, 2023 Governance Committee meeting be approved.
Carried

Approval of Minutes

It was moved by M. Newton-Reid, seconded by M. Steele, that the MINUTES of the July 20, 2023 Governance Committee meeting be approved.
Carried

New Business

Board of Health Member Self-Assessment - 2023 (Report No. 08-23GC)

This report was presented by Emily Williams, CEO who advised that the Board of Health Member Self-Assessment is required under the Ontario Public Health Standards and is a helpful tool for determining development needs, assessing the effectiveness of the Board, and identifying areas for improvement. As the last self-assessment was conducted in 2021, and is required every two years, a self-assessment is to be completed in 2023. With approval of the proposed tool, the link will be distributed to the Board of Health members next week by Stephanie Egelton, Executive Assistant to the Board of Health.

It was moved by Aina DeViet, seconded by M. Steele, that the Governance Committee recommend to the Board of Health to:
1) Receive Report No. 08-23GC re: “Board of Health Member Self-Assessment - 2023”;
2) Approve the Board of Health Member Self-Assessment Tool as Appendix A; and
3) Direct staff to initiate the Board of Health Member Self-Assessment for 2023.
Carried

Governance Policy Review (Report No. 09-23GC)

This report was presented by E. Williams. There were four (4) governance policies reviewed and presented to the Governance Committee:
• G-080 – Occupational Health and Safety
• G-100 – Privacy and Freedom of Information
• G-120 – Risk Management
• G-500 – COVID-19 Immunization (to be renamed ‘Respiratory Season Protection’)

Lilka Young, Human Resources Advisor, Health and Safety provided an update regarding policy G-500 and advised that the Ministry has provided direction to no longer refer to doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as "primary" or "booster" doses. Approval was requested from the Governance Committee to further revise the policy and its appendices, including the self-attestation form, to remove these references in alignment with the Ministry.

It was moved by A. DeViet, seconded by M. Newton-Reid, that the Governance Committee recommend to the Board of Health to:
1) Receive Report No. 09-23GC re: “Governance Policy Review” for information; and
2) Approve the governance policies as amended in Appendix B.
Carried

Quarterly Risk Register Update – Q2 2023 (Report No. 10-23GC)

This report was presented by E. Williams.

Highlights of the report include:
• One new risk was added to the risk register in Q2 related to Human Resources, specifically the recruitment and retention of knowledge workers. The primary risk is their lower compensation relative to other health units and the labour market. Increasing compensation is limited by their position within the CUPE bargaining unit and the requirement to work through the job evaluation process. A number of staff have submitted for re-evaluation and of those, some have been placed in a higher salary band. Additionally, during negotiations, analysis of the job and compensation market will be reviewed, as is standard.
• The eight (8) risks identified in the Q1 risk register remain with the same residual risk.
• Political uncertainty remains the largest risk.

M. Newton-Reid inquired how many job evaluations have been submitted to the committee. It was advised that the committee has completed one per month, with a break during the summer, for a total of 10 in 2023. An additional request is slated to be reviewed in November with no others in queue. In addition to job re-evaluations, the committee also has some preliminary evaluations to complete for positions which have not yet been evaluated. These will be the focus for 2024.

Dr. Alex Summers, Medical Officer of Health advised that work is being completed to update job descriptions to clarify the work performed by different roles which is assisting with the evaluations. Retention is improving among positions which have traditionally had high turnover.

It was moved by M. Steele, seconded by A. DeViet, that the Governance Committee recommend to the Board of Health to:
1) Receive Report No. 10-23GC re: “MLHU Q2 2023 Risk Register” for information; and
2) Approve the Q2 2023 Risk Register (Appendix A).
Carried

2021-2022 Provisional Plan Final Update (Report No. 11-23GC)

The report was introduced by E. Williams who introduced S. Maaten who invited M. Resendes to speak to the report.

The report is the final update on the 2021-2022 Provisional Plan. Of the projects listed in the Provisional Plan, six (6) are ongoing and one (1) is complete. The uncompleted projects will either be moved to operational teams or included in the 2023-2024 Provisional Plan. In 2024, a new method for reporting progress on the Provisional Plan will be implemented for providing updates to the Board of Health.

It was moved by M. Newton-Reid, seconded by A. DeViet, that the Governance Committee recommend to the Board of Health to receive Report No. 11-23GC, re: “2021-2022 Provisional Plan Final Update” for information.
Carried

Other Business

The next meeting of the Governance Committee will be held on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 6 p.m.

Adjournment

At 6:13 p.m., it was moved by A. DeViet, seconded by M. Steele, that the meeting be adjourned.
Carried

Michelle Smibert
Committee Chair

Emily Williams
Secretary