Public Health shuffle worries N.B. Green party leader, fears political interference

The reorganization within the hierarchy of Public Health is raising alarm bells for David Coon, New Brunswick’s Green Party leader but the government says the structure never changed.

In an email exchange shared on social media, Coon indicated Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, had been shuffled out of her more “independent role” reporting directly to the minister to someone underneath an assistant deputy minister.

“I’m very concerned that the chief medical officer of health’s position seems to have been moved from outside of the bureaucracy, directly interacting and reporting to the minister, to being set on the same level essentially as an assistant deputy minister,” Coon said speaking to reporters on Friday.

Coon said the change appeared to have been made without any notice or rationale.

“It opens up the position far more to be subject to political considerations because, as we know, deputy ministers are in part there to make sure their minister looks good and doesn’t run into trouble. And so to the degree that that has an impact on the chief medical officer of health’s work, that’s concerning,” he said.

He said he worries about the CMOH being subject to political influence when it comes to making public health recommendations.

But the Department of Health in an email response on Tuesday disputing that any changes were made.

“The Chief Medical Officer of Health and all of the Assistant Deputy Ministers of Health report directly to the Deputy Minister.  This reporting structure has not changed and has been in place for many years,” said spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane.

“The Chief Medical Officer remains responsible for the public health recommendations, whereas the Assistant Deputy Minister is responsible for the operations that support these recommendations and their implementation across the system.”

Macfarlane says this structure models other organizations like the Public Agency of Canada.

“Due to the huge demand on human and operational resources, especially within Public Health New Brunswick, the Department of Health created the position of Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Health early in the pandemic in order to provide additional support to the Chief Medical Officer of Health in overseeing the operational and administrative aspects of the COVID-19 response,” he said.

Coon added he doesn’t know when or why the switch was made, saying he hasn’t been able to ask the government directly.

One example, he said, was when the deputy chief medical officer of health, Dr. Cristin Mueke, made a strong recommendation to return to wearing masks indoors and in public spaces amid the spread of the Delta variant through communities in Zone 1, but days later Russell clawed back that message, saying it was a personal choice.

“That’s potentially an example because that’s the same language the premier had been using,” he said.

He said the position now feels trapped and much more subject to political influence.

The Public Health website does indicate the executive management committee is above the chief medical officer of health, which includes the deputy minister, the associate deputy minister responsible for corporate services and francophone affairs, the assistant deputy minister for health services and programs, and the assistant deputy minister for public health.

When you expand that section of the organization chart below it is the director of communications.

The next branch down is the office of the chief medical officer of health. That title is included in the executive management committee but only after the associate deputy minister, the assistant deputy minister and the assistant deputy minister for public health.

The Department of Health says it added three additional regional chief medical officers of health to assist in the response to the pandemic.