To: Grey Bruce Public Health Unit (GBPHU) Chair Sue Paterson and Board Members

Subject: Board and Management Accountability and Transparency

In my 20 April letter to West Grey Council, as you know, I asked that they support Councillors Greig, Moore Coburn, Tamming and Kanmacher In their request for answers to some very important questions regarding Board and Management issues at the GBPHU.

I learned that our local elected officials haven’t such a role with our Public Health Unit and was advised by West Grey Mayor Christine Robinson to send my concerns directly to you.

At your 28 May Board meeting you will receive a delegation from the four Councillors and one from the petition author. They will address a number of the issues that have concerned so many of us for a long period of time.

My concerns, in particular, are for our frontline healthcare providers. Our PSWs, RPNs, RNs, technicians, physicians, paramedics and office staff who have been working for more than a year at great personal risk to themselves and their families and yet they stay on even as the virus mutates and becomes more virulent causing yet a third wave.

These same healthcare providers care for those of us who live in Grey and Bruce Counties. They look after our friends and families. They themselves are our neighbours, friends and in many cases family members. Please understand why, therefore, we cannot remain silent when we learn of possible unfair Human Resources and Management practices  at our Public Health Unit.

More than 1400 people have signed the petition and many have written individual letters. The letters from individuals and comments by those who signed the petition have received many likes. The numbers in support of the original letter are now in the thousands, yet there has been no acknowledgement of our concerns from you.

Please, in response to the two delegations at your 28 May Board Meeting, agree to engage a management consulting firm to complete an independent audit of Board and Management responsibilities and practices and to publish recommendations to improve the working conditions for our healthcare providers. They deserve nothing less, nor do the residents of Grey and Bruce Counties.

Elizabeth Murray
Ayton, West Grey Resident