Schmidt resigns
by Miranda Minassian
In a press release issued Friday morning, the Sun Country Health Region (SCHR) announced the resignation of the vice-president of Finance and Corporate Services, Hal Schmidt.
“We recognized that action was required on this issue,” said Sharon Bauche, chair of the board of directors, in the letter. “We are confident that to move forward in addressing the many challenges that face health care delivery in this health region, Scmidt’s resignation is an appropriate outcome.”
“Recent issues made his employment difficult to continue,” said Cal Tant, CEO of the SCHR. “After all that came out, it was difficult to have perceived confidence in his job as a senior financial position.”
The health region had not yet begun the investigation into Schmidt’s hiring when he resigned.
“I checked his references, and he got three strong references saying that they would hire him again, that he was highly skilled and competent,” said Tant.
According to Tant, the Board Chair from St. Mary’s—the hospital that sought a judgement worth $82,000 against Schmidt—was one of those references.
“With the information we had at the time, we made the appropriate decision,” said Tant about standing behind the former VP when allegations of misconduct came out. “We had two years of good work from him.”
“We knew that there were discussions underway about his employment in the region,” said Marg Moran McQuinn, a representative for the Health Ministry.
“The Deputy Minister met with the board chair and CEO and after that meeting they decided that they needed an independent consultant to look at hiring practices, specifically around Hal Schmidt.”
The health region will continue to go ahead with plans to seek a third party consultant to look into the health region’s hiring practices.
“We want to ensure that our hiring practices are appropriate and to remove all doubt,” said Tant. “In the end we are accountable to the public.”
The health region also has plans to contact the deputy provincial auditor to see whether an audit of the books is necessary.
“We want there to be confidence in our financial system,” said Tant.
The SCHR plans to find a replacement for the position as soon as possible.
Schmidt was employed with the SCHR for two years. Since Schmidt resigned, he will not receive a severance package.