Tess Orlando, the former top health administrator for the Sunshine Coast and Powell River, has won a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. In B.C. Supreme Court July 22, Justice J.D. Taylor ordered VCHA to pay Orlando a total of about $275,000 plus court costs.
Orlando said last week that losing her job was devastating, both personally and financially.
"I worked long hours. It was extremely difficult. There was lots of change as they restructured," she said. "They have every right to dismiss people without cause É but it hurts."
At the time of her dismissal, 55-year-old Orlando was the director of acute, home and health care for the Sunshine Coast and Powell River, responsible for overseeing more than 350 employees and managing an annual budget of $32 million. She holds a master's degree in nursing and had worked at Vancouver General Hospital as a clinical nurse specialist, director of family practice, and director of surgery before the Sunshine Coast Community Health Council hired her as administrator of St. Mary's Hospital in Sechelt in 1997. After the provincial government disbanded the local health council in 2001 and replaced it with the region-wide VCHA, Orlando's responsibilities grew to include administration of the Powell River hospital and home care services.
VCHA fired Orlando on November 15, 2004. The letter of dismissal gave no reason why she was fired, and in court, VCHA agreed Orlando was terminated without cause.
Ellen Pekeles, chief operating officer of VCHA, praised Orlando in her last performance review, dated December 3, 2003. "I am delighted with your progress and performance in all areas that were feasible within the three-month timeframe," wrote Pekeles.
Last week, no one from VCHA would give a reason for Orlando's dismissal. Clay Adams, a VCHA spokesman, said only there were "performance issues."
Orlando believes her decision to cut funding in the Powell River area was the main issue leading to her dismissal. When VCHA was formed and she took on the administration of health services in Powell River as well as the Sunshine Coast, Orlando said, "The first thing I was asked to do was make budget cuts É VCHA made 10 per cent cuts across the board."
"A lot of it came from the Powell River hospital. The physicians were very, very, very unhappy with the cuts," she said. "It was my job, what I was expected to do, and I paid the price in terms of my relationship with Powell River physicians."
In retrospect, Orlando said, those budget cuts should never have happened. "Being asked to take money out of a small, rural community É you take a little bit of money, and it makes a huge impact."
Orlando said she tried to advocate for more money in the rural communities she oversaw, but "my boss disagreed with me.""I was always unable to get the attention of the large urban region and get them to understand what the needs are in a rural community," she said. "The model didn't work."
VCHA offered Orlando a severance package including 12 months' pay. But Orlando sued her former employer for more, arguing that she should have received a salary increase in September 2004 and that her years of service should include her past work for Vancouver General Hospital and the Sunshine Coast Community Health Council.
Taylor ruled in Orlando's favour, ordering VCHA to pay her 18 months severance, based on an annual pay rate of $103,109. Taylor also decided VCHA owes Orlando eight weeks pay for a retirement allowance and 267 days of sick leave.
Orlando said she will probably use most of that settlement to pay her lawyers. Their fees are not covered by the order that VCHA pay court costs.
Since losing her job, Orlando has completed a graduate certificate in project management from Royal Roads University and cared for her sister-in-law as she died from cancer. Now she is considering her future.
"I had hoped to finish my career on the Coast. I don't want to move away," she said, but she recognizes she may have to.
"I'm the chief breadwinner in my family. It's not like I'm rolling in money," she said.
In April 2005, VCHA hired Brenda Langevin, a registered nurse with a master's degree in health service administration, to replace Orlando. Langevin's previous position was chief executive officer of the Churchill Regional Health Authority in northern Manitoba.
