I was in the room some 15 or so years ago when The Guardian held an editorial board with members of the P.E.I. Health Department, the minister’s office and senior staff, discussing the role of a new health authority that would become Health P.E.I.

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As I remember it, the officials were describing how this concept would streamline health services in P.E.I. by removing politics from operations while at the same time buffering those who deliver health care from political decisions. Government would decide how many hospitals would operate in the province and where they would be built; Health P.E.I. would decide how to staff them, for example.

The journalists in the room were suspicious. I remember one of our legislative reporters asking, “But who will take accountability when things go wrong?”

And here we are.

This week, Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser and board chair Dr. Richard Wedge took pains to explain where the responsibilities fall between their board compared to the Department of Health and Wellness.

Fraser, speaking at a legislative standing committee Wednesday, said, “We are public servants. We are not decision-makers nor politicians. And we shouldn’t be held accountable for decisions that........

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