At their March 2022 meeting, Council:
Participated in learning about:
- governing legislation and risk management
Appointed:
- Meena Aheer, registration number 5290, to the Competence Committee and the Registration Committee until November 30, 2022
- Elaine McKay, registration number 2196, to the Hearing Tribunal/Complaint Review Committee Roster
Approved:
- the deficit budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year
Council approved a deficit budget for last year (2021-22). However, we expect that the 2021-22 fiscal year will end with a surplus that will more than cover the anticipated deficit in the 2022-23 budget. Operating with a deficit budget will not put the College at risk. It also means registration fees will stay the same for 2023.
The budget supports the work we must do to comply with Bill 46, the Health Statutes Amendment Act and Bill 49, the Labour Mobility Act. This work will be our focus in the upcoming year.
- a new Vision Statement and a 2022-25 Strategic Plan
As part of ensuring our work aligns with our regulatory role and changes in legislation, Council approved a new Vision Statement and a Strategic Plan for 2022-25. “We champion regulatory excellence, innovation, and trust in our communities.” is our vision for the future. Council’s Strategic Plan sets outcomes for our College to achieve.
- revisions to Bylaws 11, 12 and 13
The changes remove reference to Annual General and Special Meetings, and move the Practice Permit renewal deadline to November 30th.
- changing to merit-based appointments for council positions
By appointing councillors based on merit, we’re better able to fill potential gaps in knowledge, skills and perspective that make for an effective Council.
- revisions to Registration Policy RP16 Professional Liability Insurance
The change to RP16 clarifies that dental assistants must have “occurrence-based” coverage. Occurrence-based means that the patient and the dental assistant have lifetime coverage for an incident, regardless of whether the claim is made during or after the policy period the incident occurred in.
- joint Infection Prevention and Control Guideline
This document will be a resource dental assistants can use to support and guide their infection prevention and control practices. We developed it with three other colleges and will make it available after all colleges approve it.
- returning to in-person meetings with the option to attend virtually, as of the May 2022 meeting
- requiring that all councillors, committee members and roster members complete respect in the workplace training by May 31, 2022
The Alberta Government arranged a training program for public service employees to address areas such as bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination. They have made the program available to health regulatory colleges and it supports our Council Code of Conduct.
Supported:
- establishing a public consultation group
A public consultation group will help us obtain feedback and the perspective of this important stakeholder group – the public – when we propose changes to our regulatory documents. For example, Bylaws, Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.
Tasked:
- the Strategic Planning Working Group with developing supporting statements to help define the proposed values