Is Northern Health top-heavy with administration? When you look at the $65 million ‘corporate’ budget with top executive compensation packages well into the six figures (CEO Cathy Ulrich - $376,675; Dr. Ronald Chapman, vice president, medicine, $312,221; Dr. Sandra Allison, Chief Medical Health Officer, $207,911; Michael McMillan, Chief Operating Officer, $254,586; and Mark De Croos, vice-president, financial and corporate service/Chief Financial Officer, $238,146), it’s easy to make that assessment. Jeepers, $65 million is almost half of the City of Prince George’s entire operating budget and we crap on them all the time for being top heavy in administration. The general rule of thumb for administrative bloat, though, is about 10 per cent. If an entity … whether government, private sector, or non-profit … can keep its administrative costs less than 10 per cent of its overall budget, then it’s usually running a tight ship. For Northern Health, the ‘corporate’ budget, which is essentially administration, runs at about 8.2 per cent of the overall budget. So, that looks good. In addition, the corporate budget this year was almost exactly the same as last year’s $63 million. However, it did increase from $61 million in 2014, and $60 million in 2013, which was actually down from $62 million in 2012. As for the board itself, the appointed members who make up the governance board cost taxpayers just over $165,000 last year. Board chair Charles Jago was paid $27,750 and he attended 21 meeting days. Sharon Hartwell received $17,500 for 15.5 meeting days; Stephanie Killam received $16,500 for 15.5 meeting days; Rosemary Landry received $14,250 for 13.5 meeting days; Colleen Nyce, who was appointed to the board in September, received $8,625 for 8.5 meeting days; Guarav Parmar received $15,250 for 13 meeting days; Ben Sander received $20,750 for 16.5 meeting days; Maurice Squires received $15,000 for 15 meeting days; Edward Stanford received $14,750 for 14.5 meeting days; and Gary Townsend received $14,750 for 14.5 meeting days. Directors are paid a $7,500 retainer plus more if the chair committees. They also get $250 for meetings of four hours or less and $500 for meetings greater than four hours. The maximum number of eligible paid meeting days is limited to 30 for directors and 60 for the board chair. Basically, it works out to just north of $1,000 per day when they have meetings. Sounds pretty lucrative, but what isn’t accounted for here is how much time each board member spends prepping for meetings, and that will be different for each board member. For those of you who think there might be a lot of paper attached to a city council agenda, you’ve never been to a school board meeting. And for those of you who thought there was a lot of paper attached to a school board meeting, you’ve never been to a health board meeting. There’s a lot of reading for board members. Remember, these people are overseeing a $790 million budget. So, is Northern Health top heavy with administration? Doesn’t seem to be. However, the sheer size of the health authority with its $65 million corporate budget, means there will be bureaucracy. Just the sheer size of it will make it seem top heavy.  The question is whether that $65 million is well-spent. That what we pay the board to determine.