2 Interior Health workers step down from Indigenous health jobs over criticism – Williams Lake Tribune

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Two Interior Health (IH) employees hired for Indigenous health positions withdrew following complaints that Indigenous applicants were not considered for the positions.

The health authority announced the appointments of James Coyle as Executive Director of Indigenous Health and Welfare, and Jesse Bhondi as Executive Director of Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility on June 29.

But in an internal memo dated July 8 obtained by Black Press, IH president Susan Brown said Coyle and Bhondi decided not to fill the positions after hearing comments suggesting the hiring process was discriminatory, with no preference for Indigenous candidates. The memo can be read here.

“The comments implied that to be qualified for a role in this portfolio, the leaders themselves must be Indigenous,” Brown wrote. “This is not true, because across our organization we encourage and value the participation of all people, working side by side, indigenous and non-indigenous. “

Brown’s comments follow 24 recommendations made to the provincial health ministry in a November 2020 report responding to allegations of racism against Indigenous patients.

The author of the report, Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, said “that the Government of British Columbia (Provincial Health Services Authority), the five regional health authorities, colleges and universities in British Columbia have from health programs, health regulators and all and facilities, recruit Aboriginal people to senior positions to oversee and promote needed changes to the system.

Mal Griffin, IH’s vice president of human resources, told Black Press the positions have been filled internally to prepare for the arrival of the new vice president of Indigenous partnerships, Addie Pryce.

Pryce, who is from the Nisga’a Nation of Ginglox, previously worked as the Health Sector Director for the Assembly of First Nations and held various health positions in British Columbia and Ontario.

Griffin said Pryce was consulted before Coyle and Bhondi were hired, but that she was not responsible for the appointments as she does not start her position until August 3.

“We have selected two people within Interior Health who are proven leaders with what we believe (are) the right skills and competencies to do the job that needs to be done with the new vice president and other members of the team. ‘Aboriginal health team,’ Griffin said.

Six percent of Interior Health employees identify as indigenous, said Griffin, who added that the health authority wanted to achieve 10 percent representation by 2025.

“Our commitment is not limited to clinical roles and frontline staff. We want to hire wherever we can, ”he said.

Griffin said positions briefly held by Coyle and Bhondi have now been reassigned, this time to internal and external candidates.

With files from Jen Zielinski, bureau chief of the British Columbia Black Press, South Division.

READ MORE:

• A BC hospital worker was said to have taken off the orange shirts of the aboriginal children

• Indigenous woman plans to file a complaint against Northern Health citing racism

• Black woman fears racial prejudice may affect her care at BC hospital

• Interior Health’s top doctor released on bail after sex crime charges involving

child

@tyler_harper | [email protected]

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