Dear Colleagues:
Today's Council News describes Council's purpose as well as provides highlights of Council's October meeting.
Purpose of Council
As per the Government of Alberta's definition: Councils are the governing bodies of the regulatory colleges and are intended to be comprised of at least 50 per cent public members. A Council's purpose is to govern the College and the profession in the public interest. Councils make professional regulations and bylaws, determine the minimum standards for professional competency, adopt standards of practice and codes of ethics, set registration and practice permit fees, appoint college officials, and hear reviews or appeals of registration decisions, practice permit renewal decisions and hearing decisions.
Role
Council advises and the CEO manages
Council provides governance for the College of Chiropractors of Alberta. Council has one employee, the CEO. The CEO is responsible for the management of staff and operations of the college. Council makes decisions that best serve the public interest and ensure the provision of safe, competent and ethical chiropractic care in Alberta. This is achieved by Council defining a Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice, Bylaws, budget and strategic plans and the CEO implementing them.
Structure
At its full complement of 10, the CCOA is governed by a Council composed of 50 per cent regulated members and 50 per cent government-appointed public members. Regulated members provide a vital clinical and practice perspective, ensuring decisions and actions are reflective of the health care environment. All Council members must ensure decisions and actions made by Council are in the best interest of Albertans. Council currently has five regulated members and two public members and three public member vacancies.
Council committees, including the Finance and Audit Committee and the Governance Committee, exist to reinforce Council's role and function.
What influences Council decisions
Governing legislation provides the foundation for governance and regulatory activities. We use right-touch regulation and values-based decision making to govern in a manner that fulfills and enhances our legislated mandate of public trust and professional accountability.
Council also considers its mission, vision and values, public trust, risk management and its strategic plan when making governance decisions.
Together with the CCOA CEO and staff, Council is committed to ongoing monitoring, assessment and management of all risk as it relates to the organization and the public interest.
The CCOA Strategic Plan and how it fits into Council's governance
The strategic plan provides direction in the pursuit of the commitment to achieve our purpose.
We hope this recap of our purpose is useful to regulated members. To reach Council, council@theccoa.ca has been created to receive council inquiries. If you would like to reach a specific Council member, add their name in the subject line.
If you have questions about CCOA administration, please contact Linda Sahli, CEO, lsahli@theccoa.ca.
The Chair and the CEO will be presenting a webinar on the role of the College of Chiropractors of Alberta in February. An invitation to attend will be forthcoming in January.
October 2023 Council meeting highlights
Two new Council members welcomed
Dr. Christopher Nutting and Dr. David Opresnik participated in their first official Council meeting on October 2023.
2023-2024 Annual Report to Government
Council approved the annual report to Government including the audited financial statements. The report has shared with the Minister of Health, as per the Health Professions Act requirements, who will table them in the legislature. The report is available on theccoa.ca under About > College of Chiropractors of Alberta > Annual Reports.
Public Register enhancements
Council approved the inclusion of the conditions on the public register as per Bylaw 6.8 (updated March 2023). CCOA administration are working on the technology to support the enhanced Public Register. Regulated members will be informed on the changes once they go live.
Terms of office
The Council appointment process was launched this year. Bylaw 2.4 Terms of Office was approved by Council to allow current regulated members who continue to meet the eligibility requirements to be appointed to serve another second or third term.
Regards,
Council