Report No. 012-12

TO: Chair and Members of the Board of Health
FROM: Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC, Medical Officer of Health
DATE: 2012 January 19

Board of Health Performance Assessment: November Survey

Recommendation

It is recommended Report No. 012-12 re Board of Health Performance Assessment: November Survey be received for information.

Background

At the request of the Board of Health, a process and survey tool was developed and approved in November 2010 to help self-assess the performance of the Board of Health. In February 2011, the Ontario Public Health Organizational Standards were released specifying that “The Board of Health shall have a self-evaluation process of its governance practices and outcomes that is implemented at least every other year and results in recommendations for improvements in Board effectiveness and engagement.”

A working group of the Board of Health determined that the survey tool (Appendix A) be administered three times a year (March, June and November) and the process be reviewed after one year of implementation. Results of the March survey were reported at the May meeting in Report No. 051-11 and the results of the June survey were reported at the September meeting in Report No. 088-11.  The results of the November survey are presented here. 

November Board Assessment Findings

The November self-assessment survey was completed online or on paper by 10 of the 11 Board of Health members. The results have been analyzed, summarized and compared to the June and March results and are presented in Appendix B.

Compared to the June results, the November survey results indicate a higher level of agreement among Board of Health members with the two main concepts; the Board of Health has done their job well, and the Board ofHealth has conducted itself well.  There is, however, a higher level of disagreement than was reported in the March survey. 

Evaluation of Board Assessment Process

Now that one year of self-evaluation has been conducted the process will be evaluated.  Staff will coordinate a process to seek input from individual Board members regarding the process to date, including level of satisfaction with the self-assessment tool, frequency of administration and the summary report. Also the current Self assessment form needs to be reviewed within the context of the Board of Health responsibilities listed in the Public Health Accountability Agreement. The evaluation results will be presented at a future Board of Health meeting.

This report was prepared by Ms. Sarah Maaten, Epidemiologist, Environmental Health and Chronic Disease Prevention Services. 

Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC
Medical Officer of Health 

This report addresses Board of Health direction given to Board Working Group #3 and Requirement 4.3 Board of Health Self-evaluation, Ontario Public Health Organizational Standards.