Sun Country Health Region has announced it cannot release the report stemming from the third party review of the region's hiring and recruitment practices due to privacy issues.
"When the report first came in, we had it reviewed by our lawyer because of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act," explained Sharon Bauche, chairperson of the SCHR board. "The legislation [directed] what we could release and still protect the privacy and confidentiality of the individuals who participated in the report, [as] they participated in the report with the assurance their input would be anonymous."
"We got the report back from the lawyer advising us we wouldn't be able to release it," Bauche continued. "It contained too much stuff that would identify people."
The third party review was contracted out to the Hay Group in Regina by the health region board after possible discrepancies in hiring practices surfaced in the media.
It had been revealed that Hal Schmidt, the former vice-president of finance and administration for SCHR, had misrepresented his credentials to obtain a job in the past, and that CEO Cal Tant was aware of the situation when he hired Schmidt.
When it was later learned Schmidt had failed to repay a loan he apparently issued himself while working for the Fraser Health Authority in New Westminster, British Columbia, Schmidt resigned from his position with Sun Country.
A third party review was then called for by the board.
Within a week of receiving the report back in mid-September, the board made the decision to terminate Cal Tant's position as CEO of the region, as the report stated hiring practices were not consistently followed in Schmidt's case.
The third party review brought a couple other issues to light as well, which the region is now working to rectify.
"We had practices we were doing that we didn't actually have formal policies on," Bauche explained. "Some of the documentation was maintained in different departments and it should be maintained in one central location."
"But they said our practices are generally aligned with leading practices in other areas," continued Bauche. "They didn't find any concerns there. What they found was that we had all those policies in place but they weren't consistently followed."
Now knowing where they need to go, Bauche said the region is now concentrating on ensuring the practices they do have in place are being followed and properly documented.
"All those practices have been set up [and] we want to make sure we are really monitoring [them] more closely now," said Bauche. "The biggest thing we're doing is reviewing and monitoring to make sure these things are consistently followed."
