Community Health Centres: Board Governanace and Stakeholder Relations During Service Expansion

• Author / Creator

  Greening, Stacy T

• Despite a significant amount of literature on primary health care, little is understood about primary health care expansion. The current study examines community health centre (CHC) board governance during a period of expansion. Participants (board members) were identified through the publically available board slate and sent an introductory e-mail. Six of the twelve identified board members agreed to an in-person interview. Discourse analysis identified several aspects of governance requiring enhancement for future expansions. Study 1 focused on internal board processes and relations while study 2 focused on external stakeholder relations. Study 1 findings identified internal processes such as lack of decision support tools, low availability of documentation, and unevaluated historical decision making processes as expansion barriers. Study 2 findings identified poorly defined relationships, lack of stakeholder engagement, and poor conflict management as expansion barriers. Suggestions are made to address each of these barriers through adjustments to governance practices.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Primary Health Care
  • Strategic Planning
  • Governance
  • Expansion
  • Primary Care

• Graduation date

  Spring 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R32P4W

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.