Key takeaways:
- New Brunswicker David Coon is concerned about the reorganisation of the Public Health hierarchy.
- The associate deputy minister responsible for company services and also francophone affairs.
The leader of the Green Party, David Coon in New Brunswick, is concerned about the rearrangement within the Public Health hierarchy.
Dr Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, was transferred out of her more “independent job”, reporting directly to the minister to someone beneath an assistant deputy minister, according to an email exchange shared on social media by Coon.
According to Coon, the modification looked to have been implemented without warning or explanation.
“It exposes the post to significantly greater political concerns because, as we all know, deputy ministers are in part there to ensure that their minister looks good and stays out of trouble.” “It’s alarming to the extent that this has an impact on the work of the chief medical officer of health,” he said.
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He is concerned that the CMOH may be swayed by political pressure when issuing public health recommendations.
Coon claimed that he has no idea when or why the decision was made and that he hasn’t been able to ask the authorities directly about it.
One example, he said, was when Dr Cristin Mueke, the deputy chief medical officer of health, made a strong recommendation to restore to wearing masks indoors and in public spaces due to the spread of the Delta variant through Zone 1 communities. Still, Russell retracted that message days later, saying it was a personal choice.
“That may be an example,” he continued, “since that’s the same terminology the premier has been using.”
He described the situation as “stuck” and “far more susceptible to political manipulation.”
The executive management committee, which involves the deputy minister, the associate deputy minister responsible for company services and also francophone affairs, the assistant deputy minister for health services and programmes, and the assistant deputy minister for public health, is listed as being above the chief medical officer of health on the Public Health website.
It is the director of communications when you expand that area of the organisation chart below.
The chief medical officer of health’s office is the next branch down. The associate deputy minister, assistant deputy minister, and assistant deputy minister for public health are all members of the executive management committee.
Global News contacted the Department of Health twice to inquire about the change but did not receive a comment by the time of publication.
Source: Global news
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