Health deficit of $25 million

means massive changes

THE NEW authority
responsible for all health
care north of Quesnel
could face a deficit as
high as $25 million when
its first official budget year
begins April 1, says its
chief executive officer.

And extraordinary mea-
sures. will be needed to
overcome it, Peter War-
wick of the Northern
Health Authority said dur-
ing a stopover in Terrace
last week.

To put the number inta
perspective, $25 million is
more than the budget of
the old Terrace and Area
Health Council which ran
Mills Memorial Hospital
and Terraceview Lodge.

-. All told, the new North-
ein Health Authority has a
budget of approximately
$330 million, $270 million
of which comes directly
from the provincial gov-
ernment, said Warwick.
_ But because that num-
ber is now frozen over the
next three years, the chal-
lenge will be coping with
the shortfall, he added.

Although the former
smaller health authorities
were not allowed to carry
deficits, they tended to be
covered anyway by the
provincial government.

That's no longer to be
the case as the province is
_ taking a “harder edge” to
deficits, said Warwick.

As it is, the new author-
ity is already carrying a $6
million deficit inherited
when it took over smalter
northern health authorities
late last year. .

-Warwick has told his
- officials to freeze discre-
tionary spending as much
as possible to whittle down
that amount.

But cutting items such
as travel won’t be nearly

enough, to overcome that
figure, meaning it will be
carried over to the new
budget year, he continued.

Warwick, did say that
his figures are approximate
and that hard numbers
won’t “be available until
mid-February when the
provincial government re-
leases its budget and tells
health authorities exactly
what they will have to
spend.

Health services minister
Colin Hansen has indica-
ted there could be more
money available because
of cuts to his ministry’s
staff numbers but he won’t
have an idea of that num-
ber. until the new budget is
Teleased.

A good portion of the
projected deficit comes
from wage costs with new
technology also a con-

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tributing factor, said War-
wick.

He holds out some hope
that combining items such
as equipment and supplies
purchases and lab services
will save some money.

But overall, as much as
80 per cent of health care
costs stem from wages.

Warwick was reluctant
to speak about the poss-
ibility of layoffs, medical
service reductions, con-
tracting out or other mea-
sures.

The Northern Health
Authority has approxima-
tely 6,000 employees ran-
ging from cleaners, ta
clerks to lab workers to
nurses.

“That’s speculation,”
said Warwick of what
could happen in emphasiz-

ing any planning will have
to wait until the new bud-
get numbers are deter-
mined.

He was also reluctant to
Speak about changing
health care labour con-
tracts to give the authority
the power to contract out
services in an attempt to
cut costs. .

“We operate in the en-
vironment assigned to us,”
said Warwick, ,

“Administration is the
art of the possible with
whatever policies exist at
the time,” he said.

But Warwick did speak
of what he termed as
“redesigns” of how health
care is managed.’

The last three years
have seen health care bud-
gets rise by 9, 11 and 13

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