Community Health Engagement Committees are being established to seek input from Islanders on the strategic direction of the health system.
“The two new committees will give Islanders a stronger voice in their health care system,” said Health and Wellness Minister Robert Henderson. “They will encourage more community engagement in health and wellness, and bring a greater community perspective to the development and delivery of health services across the province.”
Minister Henderson said the Western committee will represent the geographic area defined by the Egmont and Malpeque federal electoral zone boundaries, and the Eastern committee will be comprised of people from the Malpeque, Charlottetown and Cardigan zones.
Islanders who are interested in serving on the committees can visit the Engage PEI website to apply before June 15th.
Each committee will have nine to twelve members, including up to nine residents of the region and one representative of each of the three hospital foundations in the region, to be nominated by the foundation.
“Islanders have a long and proud tradition of community involvement in their hospitals and the new councils will allow them to further engage in their health system,” said the minister.
The role of the committees is to provide feedback to the Minister and Health PEI on the provincial health care system, identify issues from a regional perspective in the overall context of the provincial system, and provide feedback on provincial strategies for health care delivery.
Regulations have been prepared to establish the constitution and composition of the committees, appointment of members, terms of office and operating procedures.
Interested Islanders can visit the Engage PEI website at http://www.gov.pe.ca/engagepei/ for information and to apply.
In the 2015 Throne Speech, government outlined its commitment to bring community engagement and perspectives more consistently to health care service delivery across the province.