This study examined hospital governance in British Columbia. Considered to be one of
the most important issues facing the health care industry today, hospital governance is
nevertheless an ill-defined and poorly understood concept. Foundational and exploratory
in nature, the study’s primary objectives were: a) to define hospital governance within the
context of British Columbia; b) to examine the structural and functional relationships
among key participants; c) to investigate decision-making responsibilities; d) to investigate
what, if any, variations exist in the governance of acute care, long term care, and
specialized care hospitals; and e) to explore the critical issues which face hospital
governance today and in the future under New Directions policy initiatives.
All hospitals (N=107) in the province were studied, with the exception of diagnostic
treatment centers, private for-profit facilities, military, and federal institutions. Utilizing
documentary examination, survey administration, and interview techniques, the study
included hospital chief executive officers (N=106), hospital board members (N=735),
hospital board chairs (N=106), and selected high ranking senior officials from the Ministry
of Health who had direct responsibility for hospital activities (N=15).
Results of the study provide for in-depth demographic board profiles, and show that
hospital governance is similarly defined across all hospital categories as “a complex
relationship of overlapping structures and activities which has the responsibility and the
authority to oversee the organization’s operation and to ensure its commitment of
providing optimum health care to its residents.” The study identifies the key participants of
hospital governance and delineates sixteen activities considered to be under the hospital
board’s domain. Seven issues are identified as being critical for hospital governance in the
future. Although there was general agreement as to the individuals most often responsible
for recommending and implementing activities brought before the board, there were
considerable perceptual differences between participants as to who possesses final
decision-making responsibility. Data results consistently demonstrated important
differences in responses between the hospital and Ministry populations.
The study shows that overall, the participants of hospital governance are generally
satisfied with the traditional roles and structures of hospital boards and are
overwhelmingly dissatisfied with New Directions policy initiatives. This study further
suggests that due to the discrepancies in priorities, perceptions, and ideologies of the
hospital and Ministry populations, hospital governance is in a highly volatile and transitive
state.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/7184 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Azad, Pamela Ann |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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