Minister appoints lawyer David Weyant as new chair of Alberta Health Services Board
By GILLIAN SLADE on August 17, 2019.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Minister of Health Tyler Shandro announced the appointed of a new chair for the Alberta Health Services Board and an additional person to serve on it.
David Weyant, QC, the new board chair, is the president and CEO of both the Alberta Lawyers Insurance Association and the Alberta Lawyers Insurance Exchange. He was previously in private practice with international, national and local law firms and served as senior vice-president and general counsel for AHS.
Weyant replaces Linda Hughes who has served for four years in this position. She was reappointed by the NDP health minister last October to a three-year term.
A spokesperson for Shandro said the appointment of the chair is at the minister’s discretion.
“Ms. Hughes was appointed by the previous Minister in 2015. It’s normal practice for a new government to make new appointments, especially Chairs,” says an emailed statement. “Minister Shandro called Ms. Hughes to inform her of his decision personally and ask her to remain on the Board. He’s very pleased that she agreed to stay on.”
“I want to thank Linda Hughes for her service to Albertans as board chair, and I’m very happy and grateful that she has agreed to stay on as a board member,” said Shandro.
Shandro also appointed as a board member, Brain Vaasjo, CEO Capital Power. He was previously an executive vice-president with EPCOR, and also has 19 years experience with the Enbridge Group of Companies.
Weyant and Vaasjo will serve three-year terms.
Shandro says Weyant and Vaasjo add extensive financial, legal and business expertise to the broad range of skills and experience already on the AHS board. He said it will make the board stronger and ensure the health system delivers the best results.
The AHS board was put in place when the regional health boards were done away with and AHS established about 10 years ago. The board is responsible for the governance of AHS, overseeing the management and business of AHS.
The board has eight members appointed by the minister of health and is accountable to the minister.
The board meets about 10 times per year. The chair is paid $50,000 per year and other board members $15,000. They are also each paid $700 to attend each board meeting and $500 per committee meeting to a maximum of $2,000 per month. The committees include: audit and risk, community engagement, finance, governance, human resources and quality and safety.
