Laser-focused on the public interest: Maintaining good governance at CPSA
Estimated read time: 4 minutes
Key recommendations of CPSA’s 2022 governance review
When important topics and issues about patient safety and appropriate care by CPSA-regulated members are on the table, Albertans should trust that decision-makers are always acting in the best interests of patients. This is why good governance is so crucial, and why periodic reviews of governance practice ensure CPSA Council is best equipped to support the organization in making appropriate, evidence-based decisions with good patient care in mind.
How is CPSA Council composed?
CPSA Council is CPSA’s governing body. Our Council has 14 voting members—seven CPSA-regulated members elected by their colleagues and seven public members appointed by the provincial government. There are also four non-voting observers, including the deans of Alberta’s two medical schools, a medical student and a resident physician representative.
In 2022, CPSA conducted a governance review to ensure our governing Council is optimized for efficiency and effectiveness, and that Councillors individually and collectively continue to be laser-focused on serving and protecting patients in Alberta.
“Governance is the policies, tools, processes and framework for Council to regulate the regulator,” says Laurie Steinbach, a public member of CPSA Council and retired teacher.
“The governance review has been one of the highlights of my term on Council. Even though this isn’t my background, I chaired the Governance Review Committee and it’s been a great learning environment,” reflects Laurie.
The Governance Review Committee, which completed its work in September, was made up of four CPSA Councillors—two public members and two physician members—with a vested interest in continuing to strengthen our governance.
“It’s really about continuous improvement in governance. Having a solid governance framework requires CPSA to be accountable for continuously improving the quality of regulation of the medical profession in Alberta,” explains Laurie. “Solid governance guides CPSA in safeguarding best medical practice for Albertans, and in doing so, it fulfills CPSA’s mandate of protecting the public.”
CPSA’s last governance review took place in 2015. With Albertans’ healthcare needs and expectations ever evolving, Council agreed it was time for an updated review. The goal of the governance review was to identify the key principles, structures and policies necessary to update governance and align with best practice on decision-making processes.
“This governance review was truly led by and was for CPSA Council,” shares Stacey Strilchuk, CPSA Council Chair. “This project was a pulse check for Council but, once fully implemented, the review will help the long-term viability of the organization itself by setting the table for good governance to guide future Councillors and Councils.”
After engaging a third-party consultant, conducting an environmental scan of other regulators across Canada and the world, reviewing existing policies and procedures, and hearing from 28 CPSA Councillors and Executive team members, the Governance Review Committee submitted a list of recommendations for CPSA Council’s review and approval. Council’s implementation plan includes 14 broad recommendations, each with their own actionable items to support the recommendation.
“Council is continually self-evaluating to improve on our governance. The review was conducted specifically for Council; therefore, engagement was high and we’re eagerly anticipating the outcomes.”
When narrowing down the final plan to 14 recommendations, the Governance Review Committee took a holistic approach to consider all options presented, including the possible outcomes, effects and implications of not implementing certain recommendations. This was to ensure that every recommendation proposed was meaningful and had clear benefits.
Some of the key recommendations of CPSA’s 2022 governance review include:
Bolstering Council’s culture and engagement throughout each Councillor’s lifecycle.
Optimizing Council’s composition by considering a skills or competency-based model for recruitment versus election-based selection of physician members.
Reformatting CPSA’s committee structure to be better defined, delineated and serve in the public interest by more accurately reflecting to government and patients that CPSA Council’s governance decisions are at an arm’s length from the organizational operations of CPSA.
Changing the Council President’s title to Council Chair and updating elements of the role, including a longer-term length, better defining the scope and purpose of the role, and the nomination and election process.
Establishing a decision-making framework based on good governance principles and a performance evaluation framework for governance outcomes.
While some recommendations were actioned quickly once the plan received Council’s approval—for example, changing the title of Council President to Council Chair—other recommendations require more work and won’t be fully realized until 2025.
“Some recommendations required updates to CPSA’s Bylaws, which were easy to make, but other recommendations will take more time. There are some things that are still being explored, including the selection process for physician Council members,” shares Sue Welke, CPSA’s Program Manager, Governance. “Some of these things are large changes, but they are best practices, so this is a good time to review possible outcomes before moving forward.”
There is a direct link between good governance and Albertans’ and regulated members’ trust in CPSA. Implementing the governance review recommendations means making changes at CPSA, which will ultimately benefit Albertans and regulated members. Most importantly, the recommendations from the review will underscore our mandate of protecting patients.
“CPSA Council is not a representative board. We are not here to represent or advocate for the physician interest. Council’s job is to set policy so CPSA’s decisions are made in the best interest of better, safer health care for patients in Alberta.”
Good governance is essential to making sure patients in Alberta receive safe, high-quality, compassionate and ethical health care. “Through the governance review, we have more clearly defined lines of accountability, ensuring the separation of oversight and governance from the operations of the organization,” adds Sue.
“My takeaway is that between the Governance Review Committee, the willingness of CPSA Council and the heavy lifting of staff, the recommendations will come to fruition, and our governance will continue improving because of it,” explains Laurie. “As an average Albertan, I feel very inspired that we had this review. Council was already performing at a high level with respect to governing for the mandate of protecting the public. With the deliverables from the review already being actioned and others in progress, we are focused on continual improvement.”
Want to learn more about CPSA Council and governance at CPSA? Visit cpsa.ca.
