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 The Northern Regional Health Authority will maintain at least some of its executive positions in Flin Flon, the newly created organization confirms. 'Given the geography of our new region, the concept of a 'distributed leadership model' will be adopted,' says spokesperson Corliss Patterson. 'It is important that each of our three major areas _ Flin Flon, The Pas and Thompson _Êhave at least one executive presence and function and be visible in the sites/programs as well as the community. 'To that end we have begun using the term 'regional office' to describe the location where regional corporate functions occur: The Pas, Flin Flon and Thompson.' Patterson said a decision on which location will be considered the Northern RHA's corporate address will come 'in the near future.' The announcement allays at least some concerns that the Northern RHA would be based primarily in Thompson, the largest and arguably most influential community in the RHA's jurisdiction. See 'Merge...' pg. 14 Continued from pg. 1 The Thompson Citizen states that RHA CEO Helga Bryant, the Flin Flon-based former head of the NOR-MAN RHA, will 'reportedly' remain in Flin Flon. Gloria King, former CEO of the Thompson-based Burntwood RHA, will apparently stay in Thompson and be in charge of that area for the new RHA, the Citizen reports. NOR-MAN and Burntwood have completed their merger into the Northern RHA on orders from the provincial government. It's not clear how many, if any, administrative positions that were based in Flin Flon under the NOR-MAN RHA will be lost in the merger. The NDP government says the merger, along with other RHA amalgamations across Manitoba, will save money by slashing executive jobs. The Northern RHA will cover about 61 per cent of Manitoba's land mass and provide 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 new RHA will provide health care services 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 new 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. Bryant was recently appointed CEO of the new RHA following a year-long stint as interim CEO, and then permanent CEO of the troubled NOR-MAN RHA. Her latest appointment earned the endorsement of Mayor George Fontaine. 'I think she's going to be doing a lot of hard work to make this region work better,' he said at a recent city council meeting.
