John Malcom doubtless didn't enjoy having to respond to a scathing Auditor General's report on his last week as CEO of the Cape Breton District Health Authority. Doing so, however, gave him one last chance to demonstrate the exemplary leadership he displayed in 15 years as head of the authority. Jacques Lapointe released a harsh report on operational shortcomings at the district and provincial levels that contributed to two outbreaks of C. difficile bacteria—infections that caused five deaths. "As CEO, the biggest mistake is my mistake," Malcom told reporters Wednesday, in response to the report. "I under-resourced the infection control department. So I...

31 May, 2012

For a process that has (or should have) undergone intensive preparation for months, the Cape Breton District Health Authority's first public H1N1 vaccination clinic, Wednesday in Baddeck, was an organizational disaster. Here's how one Contrarian reader described it: I gathered the kids after school and navigated our way through the car-lined streets to the Masonic Hall. We grabbed a spot at the end of the line, several car-lengths back from the corner of Queen & Grant streets. It was typical Cape Breton gathering—lots of chatting and laughing between neighbours, and new friends made with unfamiliar faces. Many of us who arrived after...

29 October, 2009