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.
Health care repeatedly tops the list of issues near and dear to Canadians' hearts. It is also, of course, an ongoing concern in Flin Flon and throughout northern Manitoba. The Reminder recently interviewed Northern Health Region CEO Helga Bryant on a range of topics. *** REMINDER: Life expectancy is increasing. Flin Flon is getting greyer. Is the NHR ready for the inevitable challenges in this community? BRYANT: The short answer is yes, we are taking steps to ensure we can meet the changing health needs of the communities we serve. Our priorities as a Region are in keeping with Manitoba Health's provincial priorities. We want to ensure our residents not only have good access to care, but that we are getting them the right care so that they can maintain and enhance their health. We want to support them living longer in the community rather than in an institutionalized setting. We refer to it as Aging in Place and accessing integrated primary health care services is one of the ways we can support that. REMINDER: You have talked about a decline in the number of patients needing to stay at the Flin Flon General Hospital, and the shorter length of those stays. Can you provide some specific figures and speak to why these improvements are occurring? BRYANT: We know that one of the results of better access to services through the Flin Flon Clinic is that patients are receiving care for episodes of illness. They receive timely access to care through Advance Access, so chronic conditions are being managed instead of needing hospitalization. Good timely care means people are treated sooner, before they become sicker and that lessens their recovery time. (At this point, Bryant supplied a chart showing that between 2011-12 and 2012-13, the average occupancy rate on the medical ward dropped from 87 per cent to 51 per cent, while the average length of stay dropped from 15.3 days to 8.1 days. It also showed that on the surgical ward, the occupancy rate dropped from 41 per cent to 34 per cent, and the average stay from 3.7 days to 3.4 days.) We experienced a 47 per cent reduction in our average occupancy rate in the medical ward with a 41 per cent reduction in length of stay. On the surgical ward, we saw an eight per cent reduction in average occupancy rate and a 17 per cent reduction in our length of stay. While not conclusive, these are promising trends. REMINDER: You have been in talks with the provincial government over its promised upgrades to the Flin Flon ER. Where do things stand with that project? What will it include? How will it improve care? BRYANT: We continue to move forward with Manitoba Health on this project. I would characterize it as the early stages of functional program development. Developing the functional program will inform as to what will be included. An aspect (of) the process is a needs analysis, which in turn puts more of the detail around the project. See 'It' on pg. Continued from pg. Like all processes, it does take time to be thorough and methodical, but I can tell you that I remain encouraged and confident that we will see this project through to completion. REMINDER: One concern brought to your attention relates to doctors who on the same shift are responsible for both the ER and the regular patients staying at the hospital. How can one person do both jobs? Is patient safety being compromised? BRYANT: One physician covering both ER and on-call has never been my favorite approach, but having said that it is a fairly common practice in rural areas. While it may not be optimal, we have ensured that safeguards are in place to help ensure patient safety remains the priority. Our Region ensures that a process is in place for adequate, readily available back-up should a situation develop that requires an additional physician to assist the on-call doctor. REMINDER: We are now more than a year into the entire North being served by a single health authority, with you at the helm. What has and will the merger of the two northern health authorities mean for patients in Flin Flon? BRYANT: It means we are part of a larger Region with the ability to enhance access to health care services through integration and coordination. By taking a regional approach to service delivery, we have enhanced access to some surgical services like colonoscopies. We now have access regionally to the new Pain Clinic in Thompson. This is the only clinic of its kind operating outside of Winnipeg. Through our Northern Consultation Clinic in Thompson, and as capacity is developed, the citizens of Flin Flon and area will have access to more specialists. Additionally, as one of only five health regions, we now have a stronger voice for the North on health-related matters in general. Over the next year, we will continue to see benefits from being a part of the Northern Health Region. REMINDER: At the time of this interview, it's been almost a year since the daytime highway bus between Flin Flon and Winnipeg stopped operating. How has the diminished bus schedule impacted the NHR? Are more medevac flights required? Is it possible to put a dollar amount on the cost of the bussing cutbacks to the NHR? BRYANT: Certainly the loss of the day bus means transportation into Winnipeg is less convenient for all concerned. That not only goes for the patients, but also for the Region. The night bus is less desirable than the previous day bus was, but we find ourselves making the best of the options we have at our disposal. The Northern Patient Transportation Program Policy dictates the transportation mode regarding land versus air. We have a new Frequently Asked Questions document on our website about the NPTP program under the Publications tab that I invite readers to download. As the decision between bus and personal vehicle resides with the patient, it is not possible to place a dollar figure on the impact of the day bus loss. REMINDER: Access to physicians was once, without question, Flin Flon's main health care concern. With that issue addressed to your satisfaction, what has replaced it as the main concern and what solutions can or will be attempted? BRYANT: We need to continue to introduce our citizens to the concept of accessing comprehensive inter-professional care teams. We need to ensure the physician access issue remains under control, but we also need to make folks aware that sometimes the care they need is from a registered nurse, or a dietitian, a nurse practitioner, a physiotherapist or a counsellor. Integrated care teams help ensure the right provider is available to provide the right care at the right time. That's the way we will best support healthy people in a healthy North. REMINDER: What is a program or service the NHR offers that you want more people to know about? BRYANT: We've already been talking about that. We need to shift from an illness model that waits until you are already sick, to more of a wellness model. It's ironic, people have been doing this with their vehicles for decades. Preventative maintenance with your mechanic means less breakdowns. We need to think that way with health care. Good preventive maintenance is about maximizing your health by paying attention to those things that determine good health _ things like nutrition, exercise, healthy lifestyle choices like moderation. By taking care of ourselves, like we have with our cars, we can ensure our own good health. Work at staying well, don't wait until you're having to work at getting better. REMINDER: You are a big believer in Telehealth, the Skype-like health-delivery system. Is there any way to put a dollar amount on the savings this system has produced for the NHR? BRYANT: Every medical appointment held via Telehealth yields a number of savings; firstly the patient needs to take far less time away from work, family. Transportation to Winnipeg is between several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars depending on the mode; this is a significant cost saving to the Region and would result cumulatively in hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Most importantly, the patient experience is greatly enhanced; we constantly seek specialists in Winnipeg that are 'Telehealth friendly' and try to encourage those referral patterns between our physicians and those consultants in Winnipeg. REMINDER: Suicide and diabetes are perhaps the most concerning mental health and health issues facing our neighbours on northern reserves. How is the NHR tackling these problems? Is there evidence of success? BRYANT: You know every area of the province has their own unique challenges and the North is no different. That's one of the reasons we are in the process of refreshing our mental health programming. Recently we were fortunate to recruit Dr. Shelley Rhyno to head up our Mental Health program. I'm happy to report that Dt. Rhyno will start in early September. She comes with a strong focus on mental wellness and I know she is keen to work with our staff and the community to ensure we have the best supports and programs we can offer to our citizens. Diabetes and the burden of illness which comes along with it continues to be a challenge. Improving access to primary care, coupled with good patient compliance with their treatment plans, can go a long way to successfully managing diabetes. We know we are an important part of that equation but we also know we can't do it alone. We continue to encourage our citizens to take steps to manage not only the disease, but to ensure they adhere to good diet, nutrition, exercise and lifestyle choices to help maximize their own health.
