At their annual meeting yesterday CEO Helga Bryant spoke on priorities for the Northern Health Region.  She highlighted the fact they are taking formal ownership of the redeveloped emergency department in Flin Flon in early 2019, they are looking at increased use of telehealth, there is ongoing recruitment which is challenging, they have good partnerships with education institutes especially UCN to see that students are trained with skills that are needed, they have reduced their deficit to 70 thousand dollars down from over 3.4 million dollars last year.

When asked about complaints about the Northern Patient Transportation Program and coverage for escorts Bryant explained they administer the program for Manitoba Health but can’t change it but they are advocating on behalf of northerners for change.

When questioned about including Addictions Services under the program she said that will be included in their discussions with Manitoba Health.

  In reply to a question about problems with transferring health documents to Saskatchewan hospitals Bryant said that has not changed but with a single health region now in Saskatchewan provincial teams have been formed to study how services are being provided.