Executive Director’sINFORMATION REPORT to the

Saskatchewan Dental Hygienists Association Council

May 24, 2015

DECISION INFORMATION (see #1 in this EL policy)

‘The Executive Director shall not fail to make available to the Council adequate information to support informed Council choices, including relevant statistical, demographic ….’ NONE TO REPORT

In anticipation of February 2016 being 2 years from the Laser Policy implementation, I would recommend that council re-instate the Laser Working Group to begin investigating the current research. It was communicated that the Laser Policy would be reviewed bi-annually.

INCIDENTAL INFORMATION(see #3 in this EL policy)

‘The Executive Director shall not fail to inform the Council of anticipated adverse media coverage, lawsuits against the organization, publicly visible external and internal changes or events.…’ Include some ‘good news’ items here!

License statistics:

May 6, 2015March 22, 2015 May 15, 2014

  • Full: 546 534 531
  • Conditional: 15 18 15
  • Non-Practising: 43 46 33
  • Total = 604 598 579

SDHA Office: Our current lease expires on December 31, 2015. In March 2015, I began a review of similar spaces in Saskatoon to consider options. Concerns about our current space include:

  • Value for our dollar: We pay a significant amount for lease $2879.43($18.00 per sq. foot for lease and $16.82 per sq. foot for occupancy costs) per month for 942 sq. feet with no plumbing (sink or washroom). Occupancy costs are very high compared to other Saskatoon properties.
  • The heating in the building is questionable – in winter months, there are some days we have little heat, and in the summer, we have no control of the air conditioning.

I contacted our current landlord to discuss a potential lease agreement moving forward, and they anticipated the lease being increased only slightly for the next 5 year contract.

In my review of other properties, I located space on 8th Street near Clarence that would offer us 600 more sq. feet, a staff room with a sink/fridge, and washrooms for $2950 per month ($14.50 per sq foot for lease, $5.15 per sq. foot for occupancy costs). An offer was presented and accepted that will have us taking possession on October 1, with October, November and December’s rent being free (only occupancy costs due). Anticipated expenses regarding the move will include renovations ($4000), signage ($2000), moving ($2000), and some furniture ($2000). These expenses are included in the current budget and will not result in a deficit or require a transfer from reserve.

Decisions with office space historically have been operational, because there is new wording in EL 4 that deals with this, and you have not received my Reasonable Interpretation on this policy, I wanted to bring this to Council’s attention.

Dental Therapy Complaint: It was brought to my attention that a dental therapist near Kelvington, SK was booking for and providing dental hygiene services. I contacted our health policy person (Ya-Hong Song) at SK Health to inform her and request her advice on how to handle such a complaint. She advised me to talk to the Registrar from the SDTA directly. Email and phone contact was made to Cindy Reed to inform her of our issue. She personally contacted the SDT’s to inform her that she is contravening the Act. I also suggested that we create a joint communication to all the oral health professionals that would appear in each respective newsletter clarifying the legislation surrounding scaling/debridement by dental therapists. There has been no response or agreement to create such a document. On May 7, 2015, I contacted the SDT’s office pretending I was a patient and asked to book in for an adult hygiene appointment. The receptionist offered me an appointment with the dental therapist. Our legal counsel was then consulted to solicit advice as to our next course of action. Some options to pursue:

  • Contact Cindy Reed, Registrar SDTA again to inform her that if dental therapists are not informed they are in violation of the DDA, then legal action would be taken again each dental therapists individually by the SDHA.
  • The SDHA could make a formal complaint to the SDTA and request that the person go before their professional conduct committee/discipline.
  • A letter could be sent to the dental therapist requesting her to cease and desist, otherwise legal action would be taken against her.
  • A communication (newsletter article/separate document) could be sent to all dental hygienists and dentists indicating the scope of practice of dental therapy, and their responsibility in reporting such conduct.
  • A combination of the above.

Collaboration: A meeting of the Long Term Care group convened on May 8 at the SDHA office. We reviewed the Saskatchewan Seniors Oral Health and Long Term Care Strategy document with next steps being to continue finalizing this document and present it to contact within the ministry for consideration.

MOU: No progress regarding the Memorandum of Understanding between the oral health professions have been made since last meeting. In order to get discussions occurring again, I plan in the next month to contact Ya Hong Song (SK Health) and the oral health professions groups (CDSS, SDAA, SDTA, denturists, and dental technicians) to establish a list that describes the sections of the DDA that respectively they each have issues with. Once that list is established, SK Health will be consulted to provide their intent/interpretations of those sections and then the SOHP group will meet to discuss a possible agreement with these sections.

SDHA Inaugural Conference: The conference was a huge success. Over 250 people registered with attendees being of multiple disciplines: dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental therapists, dentists, nurses, and dieticians. We also had attendees from Manitoba, SK and Alberta. As part of the conference, we planned an SDHA 45th Anniversary celebration whereby we awarded milestone years of service awards to members who had been dental hygienists for 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years. We had nothing but positive responses about this celebration/event, as well as the conference as a whole, from attendees, exhibitors, and speakers. Plans to make this an annual event are underway for April 14 & 15, 2016 in Regina. The conference will alternate between Saskatoon & Regina each year.

I offered a session at the SDHA conference regarding recordkeeping/documentation, dental hygiene billing, at the SDHA CCP. At the conclusion

Changes in 2015: With the new license renewal deadline moving to October 31 this year, we have made a tremendous effort to communicate the changes through the newsletter, facebook page, website and direct correspondence. Members coming to the end of their 3 year reporting period this year have already received a CC Transcript and a reminder that their date will change from December 31 to October 31, and they will receive another reminder in July 2015. Notice of license renewal will be mailed out in August, 2015.

Fraudulent Application:On May 6, 2015, we received an application for registration and licensure. In my review of the application I determined a need to speak to the CRDHA regarding a potential history with that jurisdiction. During those discussions, I learned that the member had been licensed in Alberta, and had her license cancelled due to her inability to meet the conditions imposed on her. On our application form, when asked whether she had been registered or licensed in another province, or had ever had a license limited, restricted, cancelled, she answered “NO”. Our legal counsel was consulted and we have been advised to deny her registration on the grounds on her not meeting our Good Character requirement. Lying or submitting a fraudulent application indicates a lack of integrity and truthfulness, and creates a potential risk in the future if granted a registration/license. She will be eligible to appeal this decision, and if she does, the appeal would be dealt with by Council.

COUNCIL PERFORMANCE INFORMATION (see #4 in this EL policy)

‘The ED shall not fail to advise the Council if, in the ED’s opinion, the Council is not in compliance with its own policies on Governance Process and Council- Executive Director Relationship, particularly in the case of Council behavior that is detrimental to the work relationship between the Council and the ED…’ NONE TO REPORT

Urgent MONITORING INFORMATION(see #10 in this EL policy)

If you have not already done so via other means, report any anticipated or actual non-compliance with Ends /Strategic Outcomes or EDLimitations policies that is just emerging or has just occurred and so it falls outside of or between the Council monitoring schedule. This is ‘heads-up’ information and is not meant to replace the monitoring reports that are handled in a different part of the agenda. When you report this anticipated or actual non-compliance, explain why and what you are doing to rectify it and indicate when you expect to be compliant.

NONE TO REPORT

Respectfully submitted,

Kellie Watson, Registrar-Executive Director

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Susan Rogers of ROGERS LEADERSHIP CONSULTING

101-478 River Avenue Winnipeg, MB, R3L 0B3Phone: (204) 284 3388 E-mail: