Top administrator who replaced health authority board being paid $201K

The Houston government will payJanet Davidson$201,537.44 as part of a roughly yearlong contract tooverseethe work of Nova Scotia Health following the shakeup in early September that saw the authority's board and CEO let go.

Davidson is the former board chair. The contract, which runs betweenSept. 1, 2021, andSept.25, 2022, iswith Janet Davidson Consulting Limited, the private company sheregistered in Nova Scotia in February2021.

Davidson was the only member of the board to survivewhen Premier Tim Houston announced he was firing the entire board, along with health authority CEO Brendan Carr.

CBC News hadbeen requesting details of her contract since her appointment, but the provincial government refused to provide the information until Tuesday.

AlthoughDavidson's contract started in September, the formal agreement was signed just two weeks ago. According to that contract, Davidson is the "administrator" of Nova Scotia Health, which places her at the top of the senior management team,and she assumes "all ofthe powers and authority of the board."

New CEO's contract

Davidson was chair of the board until it was dissolved, at which point she was named interimadministrator. Her appointment was announced at the same time thatKaren Oldfield, the former Halifax Port Authority CEO anda member of Houston's transition team,was named interim CEO of the health authority. She served as the chief of staff to former Premier John Hamm from 1999 to 2002.

According to the 2021 statement of compensation, which is mandatory for any provincialbody that has employees earning at least $100,000 a year, Carr, the former CEO, earned $408,062.53 for the year ending March 31, 2021.

The government released Oldfield's contract at the end of September. She's on an indefinite secondment from her post as deputy minister of priorities and planning and makes $224,000 a year.

Last Friday, Health Minister Michelle Thompson told CBC News Davidson's contract was still being finalized.

"I'm not sure exactly what the holdup was, but I do know that we expect it to be finalized in the next day or so," Thompson said.

According to the contract, Thompson signed the agreement three days prior to that statement, on Nov. 2.