Ministry Overview and Core Business Areas

This service plan continues the redesign and reform of the health system started in 2001. The overriding goal is to build a sustainable, publicly funded health system that will meet the needs of today's and future generations. To do this, the system is being redesigned to address the needs of the population in more innovative, appropriate and efficient ways.

Planning and implementing fundamental changes to large, inter-related and inter-dependent systems takes time. However, we have made significant progress in setting the organizational and directional foundation for an integrated, accountable health services system that responds to the needs of the public within a fiscally sustainable framework.

In 2001, government created six new health authorities. By delegating responsibility for local health services, such as home and hospital care, to five regional health authorities and responsibility for provincial and specialized health services, such as cancer care, to a single provincial health authority, government made a significant shift from the piecemeal approach of managing health services through 52 diverse regional entities that often had competing or overlapping mandates. These six new health authorities, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, have comprehensive responsibility for managing and delivering most publicly funded health services in British Columbia.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health has also focused on its new role in the health system. While the ministry still delivers some services directly to the public, it is focusing more on being a steward of the system and less on being a direct service provider.

The core business areas of the ministry are organized to reflect roles in the health system, and work together to meet the goals and objectives detailed in this service plan.

Our partners deliver the vast majority of health services to the public. These services span beginning to end-of-life care, health promotion to disease prevention, and primary to acute care. Accordingly, this core business accounts for the vast majority of health expenditures, and is the primary focus of the system redesign efforts detailed in this service plan.

This core business encompasses two important public services: the B.C. Ambulance Service, which is delivered through the Emergency Health Services Commission, and the Vital Statistics Agency, which is responsible for documenting important events for B.C. citizens such as births, marriages, and deaths.

As stewards of the system, the ministry provides leadership and support to our health system partners, including health authorities, physicians and other care providers. The ministry sets the overall strategic direction for the health system, provides the appropriate legislative and regulatory frameworks to allow it to function smoothly, and plans for the future supply and use of health professionals, technology and facilities. The ministry also monitors the health of the population and plans for and coordinates responses to major public health risks and emergencies. Lastly, the ministry also evaluates health system performance, and takes corrective action where necessary to ensure the population's health needs are being met.

This core business area includes the Office of the Provincial Health Officer. Under the Health Act, the Provincial Health Officer is the senior medical health officer for British Columbia and provides independent advice to the Minister of Health, the ministry and the public on public health issues and population health. Each year, the Provincial Health Officer must report publicly, through the Minister of Health to the legislature, on the health of the population.