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(CARLI BERRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Whether the temporary new CEO for Interior Health does more than change the optics of the controversial situation at Kelowna General Hospital is up for debate.

Interior Health’s new CEO is in the hot seat at the moment since KGH’s pediatric unit closure still has people outraged, but its not clear if the leadership shuffle will make a difference.

Susan Brown stepped down from her position as CEO six months before she was going to retire and was replaced by Sylvia Weir. The leadership change came after calls for Brown’s replacement, but Interior Health board of directors chair Dr. Robert Halpenny said it was for personal reasons rather than a response to controversy and criticism.

“She had the full support of the board. I would just say that it was a personal decision that she made,” Halpenny said. “As we move forward, I think it's a perception of a changed leadership.”

Kelowna-Mission MLA Gavin Dew is one of the local politicians who called for Brown’s replacement and he isn’t entirely convinced the leadership at IH is in a position to make improvements at the hospital.

“It's clear that Brown had become a focal point for the frustration and organizational dysfunction. So it is a positive that the right decision was ultimately made, and that she stepped back in order to make space for that cultural and organizational turnaround to begin. But I am dubious that a turnaround can begin in earnest until there is a permanent CEO brought on board,” Dew said.

Weir has been working at Interior Health for 16 years and has lots of experience on the administration side of healthcare. Halpenny said Interior Health is searching across the country to get someone into the CEO position permanently.

He said that although some folks might think someone with experience as a doctor ought to be leading Interior Health, the corporate side of the health authority requires a different set of skills.

“Clinicians are clinicians. They're trained to be in the practice of medicine. The managerial positions in health care are very complex and experience with a whole range of issues that clinicians may not be as up to speed on as someone who's in management,” he said.

READ MORE: TOXIC CULTURE: Kelowna MLAs meet with Interior Health CEO to express leadership concerns

Weir was not available for an interview.

Dew said he hasn’t had the chance to meet Weir yet but it’s tough to make a serious change until someone is in the role permanently.

“My sense is that the role she will play is as a bit of a palate cleanser before a new CEO is brought in,” Dew said.

Complaints about communication and transparency at Interior Health have been front and centre during the pediatric closure. Dew said it was a struggle to get a meeting with leadership at Interior Health, but Halpenny said he doesn’t think the health authority has made mistakes when communicating with the public or with doctors.

“I think the bottom line is for IH to be transparent and give the facts as they are. I think we've been that way up to this point. Everybody is entitled to their opinion as to how they perceive that situation,” Halpenny said.

Dew strongly disagreed.

“If Dr. Halpenny thinks that IH has been completely transparent and is without fault in this situation, then I would encourage him to step down and make way for a new board chair,” Dew said.

Dew and other local MLAs hosted a town hall earlier this week to hear from people who work in KGH and residents who are outraged by the closure of the pediatric ward. He said that doctors and nurses shared their opinions even though there is concern about backlash from their employer.

“I was really struck by the courage, especially of doctors and nurses who showed up and told their stories, knowing that there has been a culture where there has been a fear of consequence if people speak up about challenges in the system,” he said.

Dew said the change in leadership and the message from Interior Health and the Ministry of Health hasn’t inspired confidence that the authorities are going to start listening to complaints from people who work in the system and those who rely on it.

“We have a board chair at Interior Health who appears to be in denial about the crisis in the system that he oversees and more focused on defending the outgoing CEO than on refocusing the organization on the path forward. Clearly, there is a need for much more change,” he said. “And as of today, I am not convinced we're getting it. What we've gotten from Health Minister Josie Osborne is a crisis communications response, not a leadership response.”

Health Minister Josie Osborne visited KGH earlier this week but didn’t come out with a concrete timeline for reopening the pediatric unit.

“There’s no official timeline, it's about again having the right number of pediatricians and we're moving in the right direction,” she said. “We have four physicians that have signed contracts, we have four associate physicians who will be coming on board soon and so as soon as it can be safely and sustainably reopened it will be.”

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