The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Helga Bryant has been elevated to permanent CEO of the NOR-MAN Regional Health Authority after holding the position on an interim basis for the past eight months. The NRHA board of directors made the decision at a special meeting Monday following what it called a nationwide search for a new chief executive. 'Our region has embarked on an initiative we call Journey Forward, which will see full implementation of Manitoba Health's 2011 Operational Review and help us deliver on the promise of our mission: working together to improve health,' Bryant said in a news release. 'Our staff lives and works in the North and shares our overall goal of healthy people in healthy communities. I am honoured to lead and support them in those efforts.' Doug Lauvstad, chair of the board, said Bryant's appointment, effective immediately, marks a milestone for the NRHA and its citizens. 'I am pleased to announce that Ms. Bryant has been appointed to continue the excellent work she has begun as our interim CEO,' Lauvstad said in the release. 'Ms. Bryant enjoys the full confidence of our board of directors, and we believe she will move our organization forward in achieving both our vision and mission.' Criticism But the appointment drew criticism from Tom Heine, chair of a local group calling itself the Concerned Citizens Health Care Committee. He said that since Bryant took over as interim CEO, not enough has been done to meet the 44 recommendations a provincially appointed panel made to the NRHA last year. 'As far as I can judge, the status quo has been entrenched and is being maintained,' he said. As the public face of opposition to the NRHA, Heine said patients continue to contact him with stories that erode their confidence in the health-care system. He said Bryant must not only implement the 44 recommendations, but also show the public that the necessary improvements are being made. At the NRHA's annual general meeting last fall, Bryant informed the audience of the NRHA's progress toward satisfying the recommendations. She said the public would be updated twice a year on the progress but asked for patience and support since the 'deep change' called for 'takes time.' See 'Movin...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 3 'We are moving forward in some way with every single one of the recommendations,' Bryant said at the time. Bryant already had a lengthy health care resume before being appointed interim CEO in May 2011. She has more than 15 years of senior leadership responsibilities within health care in Manitoba. She served as executive director of the regulatory body for Manitoba's registered nurses, and was vice-president and chief nursing officer of Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre. Bryant was also vice-president of Acute Care and Diagnostic Services for the Brandon Regional Health Authority. In those roles, the NRHA said she 'created innovative leadership models' and 'pioneered regionalization in a non-urban region in the province and achieved significant successes in a policy-governance mode.' Bryant also co-authored a 2001 report for the provincial government relative to recommendations on pediatric cardiac surgery. The NRHA said Bryant's 'presence as a leader has already been felt within the organization and among key stakeholders within the region.' 'Those who have encountered Ms. Bryant recognize her genuine approach as well as her open and caring style,' Lauvstad said. 'The board is confident the people of our communities will be the ultimate beneficiary of Helga's leadership as our RHA's CEO.'
