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 Flin Flonners are invited to provide direction to the fledgling Northern Regional Health Authority. The NDP government is establishing what it calls Local Health Involvement Groups to give communities a voice within each RHA across Manitoba. Now the province and the Northern RHA are seeking suggestions from the public on how the groups can best function. Residents may complete a short survey or attend a community meeting to be held Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Ecole McIsaac School gymnasium. 'As a government, we are always looking for better ways to give every Manitoban access to the care they need,' Health Minister Theresa Oswald said in a news release. 'The Local Health Involvement Groups will give families and local communities a strong voice on how care is delivered in this area.' Residents unable to attend the Dec. 4 meeting can log onto www.Manitoba.ca/health/rha to download a survey. It asks questions such as 'How do you like your Regional Health Authority to communicate with you?' and 'How can the health system make engagement meaningful to you?' See 'Progress...' pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 Meanwhile, Oswald provided an update on the progress made on the provincially mandated mergers that cut the number of RHAs in Manitoba from 11 to five earlier this year. All told, she said, the mergers have slashed 25 bureaucrats, with five or more additional ones expected in the coming months, and 81 board members. Over $11 million has been saved this year, Oswald said, with more savings expected. 'Reducing the number of RHAs has meant putting more money directly into supporting the front lines of health care today,' she said in the release, 'and ensures we can continue to make improvements to the care families receive well into the future.' The Northern RHA was created from the merger of the former NOR-MAN and Burntwood RHAs. The Northern RHA's board of directors consists of chair Doug Lauvstad (The Pas); Lloyd Flett, vice-chair (Norway House); Cal Huntley (Flin Flon); Marc Jackson (Snow Lake); Donna Champagne (Denare Beach); Glen (Norman) Ross (The Pas); Edith Turner (Cormorant); Anne Thompson (Lynn Lake); Jasper Robinson (Thompson); Cristo Spiess (Norway House); Hilda Dysart (South Indian Lake); Fredrick (Dale) Seddon (Leaf Rapids); Dorothy (Nora) Ross (Thompson); Frances Hall (Wabowden); and Blaine Winters (Cranberry Portage). The RHA covers about 61 per cent of Manitoba's land mass and provides health care for some 73,000 people _ or about six per cent of the provincial population. Excluding hamlets, cottage settlements and Saskatchewan towns near the Manitoba border, the RHA provides health care services to 46 communities.
