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The series consists of applications, reports, forms, correspondence, printouts from government databases, and budget information received, maintained and created by the Ministry of Health and its successors. The records were created between 1968 and 2011 for the Alternative Payments program. The series documents the provision and monitoring of Medical Services Plan (MSP) funding for physician and health care practitioner services through alternative payment agreements to regional health authorities. The functions of the Alternative Payment program were controlled by the Physicians’ Compensation branch.

The Alternative Payments program is a method of funding physician services by the Medical Services Plan through means other than the fee-for-service method. The program is designed to secure sufficient access to care in situations where fee-for-service arrangements may not guarantee physicians the financial support or stability to be able to provide needed care, such as in teaching hospitals or community-based services in rural areas. There are two models for alternative payments : service agreements and sessional arrangements. Service agreements consist of a contract between the Ministry of Health and a Health Authority which retains physicians under contract or direct employment. Sessional arrangements are based on contracts between a Health Authority and a physician.

Records consist of alternative payment agreement accountability records case files. Records regard reviewing applications from regional health authorities for funding for programs within their geographic areas of responsibility; developing and monitoring agreements with regional health authorities; monitoring programs funded by alternative payments methods; and processing payments to regional health authorities in accordance with approved agreements. The series also include some files with related policies, procedures and forms.

Ministries responsible for the creation of this series, and their dates of the responsibility, are:
British Columbia. Ministry of Health (1976-2001)
British Columbia. Ministry of Health Services (2001-2005)
British Columbia. Ministry of Health (2005-2008)
British Columbia. Ministry of Health Services (2008-2011)

The records are arranged in several groups of accessions by health region and then by agency or health authority. The records are covered by Medical Services Plan ORCS 40740-20, 40600-00 and 40700-02.

The series consists of correspondence, memos, annual reports, draft bylaws, procedures, short reports, constitutions, certificates created under the Societies Act, and small booklets, usually pertaining to a hospital society’s constitution and bylaws. The records provide evidence of the process of developing and amending constitutions and bylaws for hospital societies across British Columbia. Hospital societies appear to have been governed under both the Hospitals Act and the Societies Act, and the Revised Statutes of British Columbia has noted that “notwithstanding the Society Act, a society that owns or operates a hospital shall not exercise any of the borrowing powers conferred by the Society Act without the prior approval of the minister.” (RSBC 1979, c. 176) Under later iterations of the Hospitals Act, a society could not change its constitution or bylaws without ministerial approval. In many cases, however, amendments appear to have been made to the consitutions and bylaws in this series in order to comply with changes made to the Societies Act.

Records in this series are arranged alphabetically by institution name. The BC Cancer Foundation has been filed under “c” for “Cancer Foundation,” and the Mount Waddington Hospital Society was filed under “P” for Port McNeill.

Some of the files originally had records on both the left and right side of the file folder. The metal clips holding these records in place have been removed for preservation purposes. Records that were originally on the left side of the file can be found on the top of the records and are face down. Records that were originally on the right side of the file are on the bottom of the pile, and are face up.

These records document the activities of the Hospital Consultation Division, including its liaison with and supervision of public hospitals throughout the province. The records are arranged alphabetically by the geographic location of each institution, from Abbotsford to Williams Lake. Records relating to each hospital are separated into files for general correspondence (1964-1978), reports (1955-1976), functional program (1971-1978) and equipment (1974-1978). Some hospital records include additional files relating to special subjects such as disaster plans or controversial issues.