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 Northern Manitoba has six fewer health-care bureaucrats thanks to the merger of the NOR-MAN and Burntwood RHAs. Chopping executive positions was a key rationale for the provincially ordered amalgamation, which created the new Northern RHA earlier this year. Spokesperson Glenn Hildebrand said the jobs were eliminated through a combination of retirements, resignations and utilizing existing vacancies. He said the positions were cut over a period of time to comply with a deadline set by the province. The specific positions and names of employees were not identified. The RHA merger led to executive titles that did not exist within NOR-MAN or Burntwood. The Northern RHA's new seven-member senior management team is led by CEO Helga Bryant, the Flin Flon-based former head of NOR-MAN. Also based in Flin Flon is Joy Tetlock, vice-president of planning and primary health care. Dr. Hussam Azzam, chief medical officer and vice-president of medical services, is based in Thompson, as is Rajinder Thethy, chief financial officer and vice-president of corporate services. Also based in Thompson is Rusty Beardy, vice-president of aboriginal health services. Wanda Reader, vice-president and chief human resources officer, is based in The Pas. The RHA is still trying to fill the position of vice-president and chief nursing officer, who will be out of either The Pas or Flin Flon. See 'Working...' pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 Though the executive staffers may be based in certain communities, they will actually be working all over the region, Hildebrand said. A provincial spokesperson cannot say at this time how much money is being saved as a result of the northern merger. In April, Health Minister Theresa Oswald directed a handful of Manitoba RHAs to amalgamate, reducing the overall number from 11 to five. Across Manitoba, between 30 and 35 administrative positions are to be cut, saving $10 million over three years. All savings are to be redirected into front-line care. Meanwhile, consultations are to be held before winter to improve communication between the public and the new RHAs. Details are to be announced shortly. 'The goal is to seek feedback from the public and community stakeholders about how the regions can better work with local communities on local health issues,' said the spokesperson. 'Health care is important to all of us and local input is crucial to improve health care and ensure the new merged RHAs are working more closely on local health issues.' For her part, Minister Oswald said the 'mergers have been going very well and the transition has been quite smooth.' 'The board, senior team and all the staff in the RHAs have remained focused on all of our first priority, and that's delivering quality patient care,' she told The Reminder. 'The mergers and streamlining of administration are to ensure that Manitobans have the best health care available, regardless where they live in the province.' The Northern 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 to 46 communities. The imaginary line between The Pas in the western half of Manitoba and St. Theresa Point in the eastern half serves as the southernmost border of the Northern RHA. The RHA covers everything north of that line, right up to the Nunavut border, with the exception of Churchill, which is now part of the Winnipeg RHA.
