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It’s very interesting that we went down the road clearing rabbit hole.
I remember when I first moved to St. George before the twinned Highway 1 opened and old Highway 1 was still under the jurisdiction of DTI. The road clearing was great.
Then the new Highway 1 opened and MRDC took over. The first few years of my commute were awful! Very little salt, always snow packed and slippery after a snow event. I used to use parts of the old Highway # 1 to get to and from work because where MRDC-maintained roads were awful, the DTI-maintained highway was always bare full-width.
On the other hand, asphalt maintenance is much better with the private company maintaining the highway. Prior to the shift, DTI would dump some hot asphalt, spread it with a grader, run a roller over it call it good. On the other hand, the private company properly mills, lays asphalt, and rolls it for a proper repair.
As an outsider using the road, my take is that one section of the contract had a clear set of outcomes defined, where another didn’t.
The key takeaway is that the contract is only as good as the outcomes identified and their related remedies for failure to meet performance criteria. It’s easy to set criteria, but setting the right criteria takes skill.
Here’s some food for thought. We need to look no further than our own organization for an example of outcomes-based commissioning.
Although SNB is a crown corporation, technically the services we provide are outsourced to us by GNB and the Health Authorities.
Back when I was in university in the 1990’s, SNB was a new concept in government in Canada and we were one of the first provinces to do it. In fact, in University, we studied the SNB model as a prime example of outsourcing government services.
Looking back from where SNB started to where it is today is a highly successful model for what outcomes-based commissioning can look like.
For a short time, there was a link between Hampton and Saint John serving this need. It eventually fell behind the wayside because many riders found that the schedules were inconvenient for their work schedules, but the cost was reasonable.
The program did last quite awhile before ridership dropped and the service was discontinued.
The concept is a good concept and has great potential. Especially in these times of exorbitant fuel costs and households need to save on costs. This could be a very successful initiative if the desired outcomes are clearly defined, executed, and managed.
I agree wholeheartedly with your idea.
We do have a number of private clinics within the province that respond to this need, but often the patient either relies on their own funding, insurance, or some sort of employee EAP program to cover the cost. The benefit is that the wait time is greatly reduced.
By funding these clinics through Medicare rather than patient focused funding, this could be an overall meaningful improvement to the delivery of services within New Brunswick.
Cleaning services could absolutely be an excellent fit. It would also allow for cleanliness standards to be adopted across both RHA’s relevant to IPC standards in force across Canada.
Case in point. My sister was the housekeeping manager at SJHO before transitioning to SJRH prior to retirement. Part of her role at SJHO at the time was to inspect areas with a white glove. Yes, a white glove where she would go around the facility wearing a white glove and running it across various services. If the glove remained clean. PASS. If it was dirty, FAIL and re-clean. At SJRH, this wasn’t the standard. So basically, same RHA, same city, two facilities, two different standards. She often felt limited in what she could do because the cleaning staff, in her opinion, were protected by the union and disciplinary measures were often difficult, if not impossible.
By having cleaning services outsourced, the outcomes could essentially be written into the contract, be enforceable, and have a set of remedies if the outcomes/objectives were not being met. So, it would serve multiple outcomes and objectives.
That’s exactly it. In the private sector, responsible sourcing is left to what I like to call the philanthropic few. Rather than making donations to have hospital wings, school libraries, or university buildings named after them, they choose responsible sourcing. Among the philanthropic few, sustainable sourcing is the exception, rather than the rule.
I had no idea that the program even existed until I attended the Mohawk Medbuy summit earlier this month.
I also agree that awareness is key. We can do our part to a certain extent to inform our clients, but, most importantly, this information needs to get into the right hands within the health authorities so that they can consider leveraging these contracts and begin making a more meaningful impact.
Looking at this through the lens of public procurement in the healthcare sector, we do have options to source while supporting marginalized communities right here at home.
Mohawk Medbuy has a fantastic program of procuring from Indigenous Peoples under some of their contracts that has gained traction in some jurisdictions here in Canada to support the development of Indigenous communites here in Canada to help build schools, provide safe, clean drinking water in Indigenous communities among other suppoorts.
Perhaps its time we work together with our health authority partners to educate them on the existence of the program and shift some of their spending to these programs that will help build these communities stronger.
In my limited experience and exposure to Fair Trade in the private sector, where the funds go and how they’re disbursed are tracked and the results are made public in the various publications and annual reports made by the sustainable sourcing initiative.
In the world of public procurement, I think the options for making impactful responsible sourcing is somewhat limited. When you look at the nature of what we purchase (medical equipment, construction projects, vehicles, and the like), we can do our own impromptu responsible sourcing by supporting Canadian/Provincial companies first to generate some economic impact here at home, however, we have little-to-no control on the raw materials used in the goods we procure.
For example, from a medical equipment perspective, for the most part, equipment is manufactured in Europe, the United States, and Asia by large mega vendors. In that corporate world, cost savings will always prevail – manufacture what is being supplied at the lowest cost and resell at the highest price the market will bear.
We are definitely in an awkaward position where we are procuring on a limited budget while maintaining accountability to the taxpayers in our Province.
I think that we can draw a dotted line between sustainable sourcing (Fair Trade) and GNB’s NB First Procurement policy.
Given that New Brunswick based companies have a 5% or 10% (depending on sector) buffer on price, we can still keep procurement costs competitive while benefitting the NB economy. That additional 5 or 10% is definitely sent right back into our economy keeping our citizens working. Those citizens pay income tax, purchase items, and the revenues are returned right back to the province and then some in the taxes they pay.
Never underestimate the power of spending in your own province.
About 10 years ago, I took a short break from the construction industry and went into procurement for a confectionery manufacturer.
At the time of my tenure, Fair Trade was just coming into vogue.
Being strong in chocolate manufacturing, all the chocolate suppliers were touting fair trade and the socioeconomic values of procuring sustainable, Fair Trade chocolate. We never produced our own chocolate from cocoa beans, we always purchased it in large bar format where it was melted and used to coat the confections. We were also a manufacturer for many of the large candy companies, and one of our clients was an early adopter of using Fair Trade chocolate and marketed their products as such. Our mandate was to procure their chocolate in raw form from a specific manufacturer and blend. Naturally, it cost more per pound, however, they were in an economic position to absorb the additional cost and reap the marketing benefits while keeping their shelf price competitive to non-Fair Trade products.
For our own house label items, Fair Trade never entered the discussion due to cost. The mandate was always to procure the chocolate at the best price. My time was spent watching cocoa futures and bouncing back-and-forth between suppliers who had similar blends (indistinguishable to the final customer) at the lowest cost based on what the markets were doing, and booking commitments at the lowest cost.
When mixing an initiative such as Fair Trade in the private sector, even to this day, my opinion is that, more times than not, margin will always outweigh additional cost despite consumer sentiment all other things remaining equal. Even some of the high-end conoisseur chocolate manufacturers still use raw ingredients that meet their specifications and park Fair Trade on the shelf. The next time you find yourself in a chocolate aisle in your supermarket or department store, take a look at how many confections have Fair Trade (or equivalent) on the label versus those that don’t. I’m fairly certain that you’ll find responsible sourcing in the minority.
From a public procurement perspective, I can see responsible sourcing as a better fit. My opinion is that some foreign aid spend on a federal level could be shifted to responsible sourcing. This way, rather than sending the funds to other countries’ governments, that additional spend goes directly to those who need it, rather than the notion that foreign aid spend will be distributed directly to those who demonstrate the need for it.
Hi Everyone
I’m Dan LeBlanc, a category specialist on the Capital Infrastructure/Operating Room group with SNB SP Health. My focus is procuring primarily OR equipment and service contracts through various processes – direct purchases, RFx projects, and through group purchasing organizations.
Prior to joining SNB, I spent 18 years in the construction industry in the architectural glass and aluminum trade as an estimator, project manager, and division manager.
In coming to SNB, it was a steep (but quick) learning curve to colour inside the lines under procurement legislation and being accountable to the citizens of New Brunswick instead of the owner’s profit margins. It has been a positive career shift so far, and, for the first time in my career, I can honestly say that I truly enjoy what I do!
