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.
The NOR-MAN Regional Health Authority (NRHA) held their Annual General Meeting at 7:00 p.m. on November 1st in front of an audience of approximately 20 local citizens in Snow Lake's Lawrie Marsh Hall. In opening the meeting, Board Chairperson Linda Lautamus stated that the number of persons in attendance this year was as good as, or better than, any past AGM. She also thanked the local Hospital Auxiliary for their help in preparing for the meeting and after introducing the Health Authority's board and staff to the gathering, Lautamus handed the meeting over to the RHA's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Drew Lockhart. In his address, Lockhart called attention to the RHA's 2003/04 Annual Report, which was freely distributed upon entry to the meeting. He stated that if people took the time to go through it, there was a lot of visual and user-friendly information contained within the staff produced document. While taking the attendees through the 36-page report, Lockhart singled out and identified the various District Health Councils for their contributions towards health care in the area. "They play a pivotal role in our region," said Lockhart. "They're truly a valuable resource, that is really working." The CEO also spoke on a Community Health Assessment process that the RHA has just recently gone through. The process forms the basis for decisions that are made in addressing the regions health concerns over a five-year period. "The strategic plan that results from the process will guide us in deciding our health services in years to come," he said. Additionally, Lockhart addressed the issues of primary health care, capital projects, Telehealth and the RHA's audited financial report. See 'Goal' P.# Con't from P.# In speaking about primary health care, he reiterated the health authority's goal of, where possible, integrating community health services under a single roof, pointing out how this allows users better access to services. The buildings that the RHA will hold under long-term lease in both Flin Flon and The Pas were held up as examples of this thinking. When discussing capital projects, Lockhart pointed out the CT renovations, demolition of old St. Paul's residence, and the Dialysis expansion in The Pas, the ramp restoration at the Flin Flon General Hospital, and the new PCH beds in Snow Lake. He noted on the latter, what a proud day it was to be at the grand opening of the beds back in late September. On the point of Telehealth, the CEO lauded the addition of this cutting edge health technology in Snow Lake, adding that it should be in service by February of 2005. He further added that Telehealth services will be expanded to include two sites in each of The Pas and Flin Flon's hospitals. In a cursory revue of the audited financial statement, Lockhart pointed out that the RHA's ratio of administrative costs (amount spent on administration in comparison to the rest of the budget) was well below the provincial average at 5.7 per cent. Without any questions arising in relation to the report, the board passed it and Lautamus rose and introduced the evening's speaker, professor Patricia Martens of the Manitoba Center for Health Policy (MCHP). Martens is also the director of The Need to Know Team, which is an alliance of researchers from the MCHP and planners from non-Winnipeg RHA's and Manitoba Health. Her presentation on this evening was based upon their findings and titled, "NOR-MAN RHA: Painting a population based picture". The very lively and upbeat Martens guided the attendees through an analogy-based presentation that explained the team's purpose and how they gather their information (doctors reporting to Manitoba Health on patient visits). While going through some age and health indicator comparisons with the rest of the province, Martens pointed out that the NOR-MAN region has a higher than average mortality rate. However, the good news is that we seem to be getting healthier on the whole, we seem to be able to access surgery easier than in other regions, and we make good use of home care services and breast and cervical cancer screening. "Your real asset is the region's staff," said Martens. "They are very adept at looking at the big picture and getting the health services to match the data." During the later part of Marten's presentation, some astounding data in relation to the province's mental health was brought to light. This information included the facts that: one in 10 physician visits in the province were for mental illness and in the NOR-MAN region, there were 1.3 suicides per 10,000 people, and eight attempted suicides per 10,000 people. The professor also stated that close to 30 per cent of the people who received a diagnosis of mental illness were prone to commit or attempt suicide. She concluded that this information offered health care a window of opportunity to intervene and prevent some suicides before they happen. Following professor Martens' presentation, there was a brief question and answer session before the meeting wrapped up and those in attendance enjoyed refreshments and conversation.
