Health care in northern Manitoba is evolving, but not quickly enough to allay all concerns.
That was the take-away from the Northern Health Region (NHR) annual general meeting held this past Tuesday, Oct. 27 at the RH Channing Auditorium.
“We continually strive to improve the services we provide,” Helga Bryant, chief executive officer of the NHR, told the gathering. “We do this by learning from our shortcomings, and we always seek to grow and develop and get even better.”
Addressing 80-plus attendees, Bryant shared highlights around the NHR’s strategic goals, from improving cancer treatment to more effective staff recruitment.
She cited “huge challenges” around providing health care to the vast northern Manitoba region, but she said the NHR is innovative in striving for quality and accessible services.
Bryant noted the NHR has become the first Manitoba health region outside of Winnipeg to establish nursing practice councils, made up of front-line nurses who help guide a high level of care within the system.
Also established are interprofessional teams in Flin Flon and Thompson that see physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners work together in a collaborative model, she said.
Bryant hopes to expand the role of nurse practitioners (NPs), maintaining a “grow our own” strategy that financially supports nurses from the region who return to school to become NPs.
The NHR also hires all nurse applicants who graduate from University College of the North, she said, and supports those individuals in their orientation and mentorship.
Standing at a podium on stage, a projection screen to her right, Bryant spoke of the NHR’s cancer strategy. Its goal is to ensure anyone with a suspected cancer diagnosis receives treatment within 60 days.
Bryant expressed her gratitude to the Manitoba government for “supporting all of our capital project needs,” including lab upgrades at the Flin Flon General Hospital and a recovery centre for youth in Thompson.
But for some meeting attendees, the health care system continues to fall short.
Gordon McGillivary, the band health director for Split Lake, said the reserve’s current ambulance is “a truck with a cap on it.” Worried about patient and nurse safety, he called for a proper ambulance.
He also asked the NHR to build a four-bed dialysis unit in Split Lake, which he suggested would be cheaper than repeatedly driving diabetic patients two hours to Thompson over a rough highway.
Speaking into a microphone from the centre of the auditorium, McGillivary further advocated for a “full-scale” personal care home in Split Lake.
“I’m here because I care, and it’s emotional for me,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’m crying because I need to hear that you’re going to support this. We have people in our community who are suffering every single day because they don’t have these services any urban centre might have.”
Bryant said the NHR has been advocating for improved ambulance services in Split Lake and would do the same with regards to a dialysis unit and personal care home.
Flin Flon resident Thomas Heine had questions of his own. He referenced an August incident in which three young women were initially denied entry to the Flin Flon ER after being pepper-sprayed, as there were concerns the spray could contaminate the hospital environment.
Heine asked whether a person who goes to the hospital with a persistent cough might also be refused entry given that they could spread their germs.
Referencing pepper spray, Bryant said there are “significant issues” around “that kind of powder and solution” getting into the hospital ventilation system.
She said the pepper-spray incident would not be repeated with the new Flin Flon ER, as it will have its own decontamination bay.
Bryant added that the NHR has had conversations with the parents of the young women and that she regrets the incident.
Heine then asked what would happen if the victim of an industrial accident at Hudbay were to become contaminated and arrive at the current ER. Would staff “just keep them parked outside?”
Bryant replied that the NHR does “our best in every situation to manage the care of patients.”
“And we will do that in a way that is as caring and as compassionate as possible,” she added, “and keeping also in mind all of the other patients and the other circumstances that are happening around the site at that time.”
Another Flin Flon resident, Angela Simpson, suggested the NHR offer financial support to northern Manitobans who wish to enter medicine and return to the region to practice.
“I can’t believe for a minute there isn’t a student out there that would really benefit from something like this,” she said.
Doug Lauvstad, chairman of the NHR board, said the NHR would want to talk to individuals interested in this type of return-for-service agreement. He said interested individuals can speak to the NHR’s human resources department.
He said return-for-service models have existed in the past as partnerships between the NHR, municipal councils and the student’s educational institute. He believes the provincial government is also willing to join in.
Recruitment of medical professionals is a long-standing challenge for northern Manitoba, Lauvstad said.
In her comments to the board, Simpson also took time to compliment the NHR on the improvements she has seen
“Certainly in the last few years, you’ve all done a good job of bringing in more doctors to our community,” she said, “and you don’t hear some of the same concerns you may have heard four years ago or five years ago.”
NHR posts deficit
The Northern Health Region (NHR) recorded a deficit of $10.7 million in its latest fiscal year.
Audited financial statements presented at Tuesday’s annual general meeting show the NHR had $219.3 million in revenue compared to $230 million in expenses in 2014-15.
“We do our best to balance our budget going forward,” said Helga Bryant, chief executive officer, “but we cannot – and the board has made it very clear that we will not – balance our budget at the cost of cutting services to our patients, and we have government support in that.”
Costs related to acute care were the single biggest expense last year, eating up 41 per cent of the budget ($94.9 million). Medical remuneration was the next highest expense at 16 per cent ($36.2 million).
While most budget categories saw expenses rise, the Northern Patient Transportation Program (NPTP) saved $900,000 for a total budget take of eight per cent ($18.7 million). NPTP transports patients out of the region as their care requires.
The provincial government provided 91 per cent of NHR revenue ($198.5 million). Other sources of revenue included amortization of deferred contributions and the provision of uninsured services.
Annual reports for the NHR are available online at www.northernhealthregion.ca. Click on the News and Publications tab.
