Chairperson of Vitalité Health Network’s Board of Directors sets record straight

Bathurst, Thursday, February 27, 2020 – The Chairperson of Vitalité Health Network’s Board of Directors, Michelyne Paulin, wishes to reassure the public as well as the members of the Standing Public Accounts Committee that, at an in camera meeting on December 10, 2019, Vitalité Health Network’s Board of Directors did indeed adopt a motion supporting the health care reform. 

I wish to set the record straight and reiterate that a motion on the health care reform was indeed moved, debated and adopted by the Board.  Although a contentious media debate took place, I can confirm that said motion was sent to the Department of Health on December 12, 2019. We subsequently received an acknowledgment thanking us for our support on this issue

—Michelyne Paulin, Chairperson of Vitalité Health Network’s Board of Directors

The Board Chairperson sees a contradiction in certain of the public comments made by Norma McGraw who declares one day that she “was only a member with one vote” while advancing, the following week, that no motion had been adopted in this regard.

The subject was fully discussed at several meetings during which the Board members had the chance to express themselves freely. “This reform was raised four times during our meetings or working sessions between April and December 2019. How can Ms. McGraw deny this fact when she attended each of these meetings? I am genuinely puzzled that she could make such statements and I am unclear on the actual objectives that she is pursuing,” Ms. Paulin said. 

The Chairperson hopes that this statement will reassure the public as well as the members of the Standing Public Accounts Committee. “It is important to me for people to understand that the role and terms of reference of the Board of Directors of Vitalité Health Network are to work in support of the wellness and health of our communities,” she concluded.