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 Drew Lockhart has stepped down as CEO of the NOR-MAN Regional Health Authority following months of controversy surrounding the organization. A brief news release from the NRHA, issued last Friday morning, May 6, announced his resignation but provided few details. "The NOR-MAN Regional Health Authority Board of Directors wishes to advise that after 11 years of service, Drew Lockhart has resigned as the NRHA's Chief Executive Officer effective May 5, 2011," it read. "The Board has accepted his resignation." 'Years of service' The release offered the board's thanks to Lockhart for his "years of service and commitment to the NOR-MAN Regional Health Authority." In an interview, board chair Doug Lauvstad said that in keeping with board policy, he would not comment on Lockhart's reasons for leaving. Lauvstad said the board is discussing how to involve the public in the process of selecting Lockhart's replacement. The goal is to have a new CEO within six months. Corliss Patterson, executive director of communications / public relations, has been appointed acting CEO. Lauvstad said the board has asked Manitoba Health to recommend potential candidates to serve as interim CEO until a permanent replacement can be found. See 'A...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 Lockhart's wife, Susan Lockhart, has also left her high-profile position with the NRHA. She had served as executive director of planning, research and development. Their resignations come more than five months after the provincial government launched an operational review of the NRHA that included a focus on the CEO's performance. Tom Heine, chair of a local group calling itself the Concerned Citizens' Health Care Committee, said he felt Drew Lockhart's resignation was appropriate even through his committee had not called on anyone to quit. But Heine does not believe changing one position will cure all of the NRHA's perceived ills. "It's a systemic problem, I think," he said. A public forum held late last year identified a number of concerns with NRHA services in Flin Flon. Among them was the inability of many residents to get a doctor's appointment in a timely manner, and the process that resulted in the NRHA opening its own medical clinic in the hospital. The provincially appointed review panel tasked with examining the NRHA is expected to to release its final report to the public sometime this spring. The panel consists of Donna Forbes, former assistant deputy minister for Manitoba Health; Jan Currie, former chief nursing officer of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority; Reg Toews, former CEO of the South Eastman Health-Sant Sud-Est; and Dr. Brian Postl, dean of the University of Manitoba's faculty of medicine and a former CEO of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. The panel focused on seven areas: Flin Flon issues; finances; board functioning and governance; CEO performance; community relationships; First Nations; and patient-related issues.
