In follow-up to the letter shared with our respected BC First Nations Chiefs and Leaders in March of this year, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) would like to share an update on the Action Plan that came out of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) report and its recommendations.

The OAG conducted a report entitled, Establishing the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia which was included in the Fall 2015 Report of the Auditor General of Canada. The primary focus of the study was the FNHA in British Columbia but it also included an audit.

The objective of the study was to inform Parliament about how efforts by British Columbia First Nations and Health Canada overcame the structural impediments identified in the 2011 June Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the FNHA had established and implemented selected elements of an accountability and governance framework. The expanded scope was the result of an unsigned document received by the OAG.

The report included five recommendations for the FNHA to address gaps in its conflict of interest, allegations of misconduct, staffing, and remuneration policies, and one recommendation for Health Canada to work with the FNHA to ensure that a robust accountability and governance framework is implemented.

Section 7.9 of the OAG report confirmed that "the FNHA was taking steps to update its accountability and governance framework by revising its policies and procedures and establishing additional oversight mechanisms." Specifically, the OAG referenced enhancements to the Whistleblower, Risk Management, and Audit functions-all work that was already underway or is currently in progress.

The FNHA is committed to continuous improvement and becoming the best organization possible, an organization that blends industry best practices and First Nations ways of doing business-an organization that First Nations in BC deserve.

Although organizational transformation takes time, FNHA continues to work hard to strengthen our policies, procedures and mechanisms over the past seven months. Below we share our August 23, 2016 submission to parliament, an update on the Action Plan and our activities carried out since our update of March 17, 2016.

In Wellness,