In 1993, Cape Breton Island native Dr. Ron Stewart, who was instrumental in organizing emergency medical services in southern California earlier in his career during the 1970s, was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly and was appointed Minister of Health. Dr. Stewart quickly commissioned several reports on health care reform, one of which was conducted by Dr Mike Murphy, the director of emergency services at the Isaac Walton Killam Children's Hospital and the Victoria General Hospital Emergency Department which offered a comprehensive evaluation on the state of the province's ambulances. Dr Murphy's report was highly critical of the ambulance system at that time.