Council Meeting Highlights - June 12, 2009
The first meeting of the new Council was held in Regina on June 12, 2009. Present for the meeting were Brent Stewart, President; Derek Dagenais, Bob Fenner, Jon Antal, Kim Johnston, Karen Wallace (for part of the meeting). Some highlights of the meeting follow.
Fees
The majority of the Council meeting was spent in consideration of the results of the Annual General Meeting. Council approved the legal drafting of the changes to the Administrative Bylaws for filing with the Ministry of Justice within 30 days. These Bylaws will take effect once they have been filed with Justice. Council also approved reductions in the Initial Processing Fee and the Non‐Practising license fee to $50 from 30% of the license fee. These changes will be included in the Administrative Bylaws at this time. They will need to be confirmed at next year’s AGM. The following table summarizes the fee schedule effective July 1, 2009.
| Type of Fee | Fee (effective July 1, 2009) |
|---|---|
| Annual Practicing License Fee for 2010 | $425 |
| Annual Non‐Practicing License Fee for 2010 | $50 |
| Initial Processing Fee | $ 50 |
| Restricted License Fee | $100 |
| Reinstatement Fee | $275 |
| Late Fee (applicable to 2010 license renewals) | $ 50 on December 2nd rising by $25 each Monday thereafter to a maximum of $275 |
| Replacement Certificate of Licensure (note: member cards will not be replaced) |
$20 |
| Status Change Fee | $50 |
Regulatory Bylaws
Council considered the legal drafting of changes to the Regulatory Bylaws and the Paramedics Act. Now that we have the views of our membership through the AGM, Council will undertake consultation with other stakeholders prior to forwarding these changes for consideration by the Minister. This process could take a few months.
Continuing Medical Education
Council considered recommendations from the Education Committee resulting from recent conference calls with CME facilitators. Council decided that the ITLS Basic requirement at the EMT/PCP level would be phased in over two years. All EMT members must have an ITLS Basic certification prior to the 2011 license year. Council also amended the CME requirements to treat Medications Pertinent to Scope of Practice similarly for all license levels, i.e. as a mandatory component of CME credits worth 5 credits. This removes the requirement for a Medical Advisor sign off that would have been required if the Medications were considered part of the Advanced Skills Modules. The Web Site will be updated to include all the questions raised and answered on the conference calls regarding CME.
Committee Memberships
Council also considered the assignment of Council members to Committees and the recruitment of additional members to serve on the committees. Although a few applications have been received, Council called for a more proactive approach to recruit more applicants for the committee positions. Current membership and vacancies are as follows (note: although the AGM approved an increase in the Professional Conduct and Discipline Committees, these changes are part of the Regulatory Bylaws which are subject first to consultation and then to approval by the Minister of Health. We are, therefore, still using the current composition.):
| Committee (composition) |
Current Members | Vacancies |
|---|---|---|
| Executive (3 Council Members) |
Brent Stewart, Chair, EMT‐P Derek Dagenais, EMT‐P Jon Antal, EMT‐P |
0 |
| Audit (Vice President as Chair, 1 member, and 1 non‐member with financial management expertise) |
Derek Dagenais, Chair, EMT‐P Ross Reaburn, EMT‐P Karen Wallace, Public Rep |
0 |
| Education (Council member as chair, 8 members & public rep from Council) |
Bob Fenner, Chair, EMT‐P Kim Johnston, EMT‐P Brad Mee, EMT‐A Brenda Fry, EMT‐P Karen Wallace, Public Rep Dan Prefontaine, EMT |
4 |
| Registration (Council member as chair, 4 members) |
Len Protz, Chair, EMT‐P Jon Antal, EMT‐P Faron Nakaska, EMT‐P Jarret Cappelle, EMT Chris Warren, EMT‐A |
0 |
| Discipline (Public Rep from Council, 4 members) |
Don Brickner, Chair, EMT‐P Jamie Struthers, Public Rep Randy Bender, EMT‐A Mike Grisdale, EMT |
1 at this time. (Expressions ofinterest for future expansion are welcome) |
| Professional Conduct (5 people with the majority being members of the College) |
Ken Luciak, Chair, EMT‐P Mark Ollinger, EMT‐P Al Schneider, EMT Barry Szeles, EMT Ian Young, retired police officer |
0 at this time. (Expressions of interest for future expansion are welcome) |
| Legislation and Bylaws (President as Chair, 1 Public Rep from Council, 3 members) |
Brent Stewart, Chair Jamie Struthers, Public Rep Brad Mee, EMT‐A Wayne Therres, EMT‐A |
1 |
| Nominations (1 Former Council member, 1 Public Rep from Council, 2 elected members) |
Dan Lewis, Chair, EMT‐P Karen Todd, Public Rep Marion Blain, EMT‐A Michael Hengstler, EMT‐P |
0 |
Ministry of Health
Officials from the Ministry of Health attended the Council meeting for the first time since the Paramedics Act was proclaimed. The two Directors, Patrick O’Byrne, Acute and Emergency Services and Sandra Cripps, Workforce Planning, and Project Manager, Jason Liggett, made the following points in their presentation to Council:
- Saskatchewan Health will provide an additional grant of $55,000 to the College to help reduce the debt from the first year of operation, bringing the Health contribution to $110,000 against the 2008 debt of $116,000.
- SCoP has made good progress in its first 9 months of operation. Now that the Reviews are near completion, Saskatchewan Health hopes to be able to devote more time to assisting the College to address a range of issues that have been identified in its first months of operation.
- The College operates under authority delegated from the Minister.
- SCoP has a responsibility to consult broadly on any major changes it wishes to implement, including stakeholders other than the members, such as employers, other regulators and the government.
First Responder Services
Council considered a proposal to discontinue the SCoP training program and materials provision for First Responder training. The College program is in need of updating and instructor recertification making it an ideal time to reconsider whether SCoP should be providing this program given that the mandate of the College is neither First Responder regulation nor training provision. There are alternative programs available from the Red Cross and St. John Ambulance which are nationally recognized and regularly updated. Both Red Cross and St. John Ambulance will accept College certified instructors with just a brief training program making the transition to their programs easy to accomplish. A decision was delayed until the College hears from the Ministry of Health on the consultation they are undertaking with Health Regions regarding any impact from this proposed discontinuation.
Patient First Review
Council approved a Brief to be submitted to the Patient First Review and copied to the Minister of Health.