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 Emergency trips to the Flin Flon General Hospital have gone down for at least three consecutive years. Figures from the Northern Regional Health Authority show ER visits totalled 10,645 in 2011-12. That was down 18 per cent from 2010-11, when there were 12,912 visits. And it marked a drop of 29 per cent from the 15,024 visits recorded in 2009-10. While fewer residents from both Manitoba and Saskatchewan are using the ER, the percentage of Saskatchewan patients is steadily growing. In 2009-10, Saskatchewan patients represented 37 per cent of all ER visits. That number rose to 40 per cent the following year and again to 41 per cent in 2011-12. Of the 38,581 ER visits between 2009-10 and 2011-12, 61 per cent involved Manitoba patients and 39 per cent Saskatchewan patients. Credits clinic The Northern RHA has credited the new publicly owned clinic within the hospital for the reduction in ER visits. The NDP government has pledged to upgrade and redesign the ER 'in such a way that it fully integrates with the hospital and meets the priorities of the community and the health providers,' as Premier Greg Selinger put it last year. Selinger said updated equipment will also be part of a commitment estimated to be worth at least $10 million.
