The regional health authority addressed some of its projects and priorities as part of its online annual meeting last Wednesday.
The overall tone of the noon-hour session of Southern Health-Santé Sud was positive as leaders see progress being made on the myriad challenges being faced by the health care system.
Interim CEO Dana Human noted that their theme this year revolved around the power of listening.
“It really sums up how we work closely together with our communities and teams to make things better for everyone,” she said. “Even with the challenges happening around the world, the conflicts and rising costs, we stay focused on what matters most … helping people get the care they need.”
She emphasized what she described as a resolute aim to create meaningful opportunities for interactions with communities, partners and stakeholders, and she noted how they recently sought feedback through a survey.
“We got some amazing responses, like this one, which reminds us of our purpose … it said, ‘Being listened to makes us feel important. There’s so many voices and also so many ways that people look at things … so having someone listen to my little voice makes me feel valued.’
“Another response said, ‘I want to feel like communication goes both ways. There’s some things that my provider understands better, but there’s some things that I understand better. A good partnership considers both.’”
Human observed how it helped reinforce the importance of having a focus on people-centred care and meaningful engagement, and she especially emphasized that in connection to the Indigenous communities the RHA serves.
“We spent a lot of dedicated time listening to our Indigenous communities in relation to several projects,” she said. “One of the highlights was the new Indigenous cultural space in Portage. Elders helped design it, and it will be filled with meaningful artwork and signs. It’s a space that truly respects and honours culture.”
Board chair Adam Montieth echoed how that is very much a priority for the health authority.
“Something new that happened this year is that an Indigenous education council was born as a collaboration between Southern Health-Santé Sud and members of the First Nations communities and Dakota Ojibway health services,” he shared. “This group provides a critical lens of promoting culturally safer care, cultural humility, and two-eyed seeing. This is a group that’s coming together to develop education and on-the-ground resources in the best ways possible,” he said, noting how they continue to work on building stronger relationships.”
Human touched on how they hold regular monthly sessions that have covered a wide range of topics, such as traditional medicines.
“It’s helped us learn and grow together,” she said. “It has reminded us there are always advancements in reconciliation that can be made at the individual level and at higher levels.”
Human went on to note the importance of updating their strategic plan in the past year.
“This is not a document that is finalized and put aside. It is a living document that guides our decision making on a daily basis.”
Another key step highlighted from the past year was the hiring of two child psychiatrists through a partnership with the Manitoba Adolescent Treatment Centre.
“This means more kids and teens can get the help that they need,” said Human.
She went on to discuss the challenge to meet the needs of a growing population and how it impacts their programs and services.
“We have to be flexible in where and how we provide services depending on where the needs are,” Human said. “We have also noted a 50 per cent increase in our age 65+ senior population in the last decade alone, and that number continues to grow.”
Monteith noted that the board regularly monitors key health care indicators, such as minimum service volumes for certain procedures. Significant progress that had been made in the last year, he said.
“We’re excited to share that we beat our targets for hip, knee and cataract surgeries in this past year, helping Manitobans get back to healthier lives sooner.”
Human commented on the ongoing challenges related to staffing.
“Recruitment and retention are also critical to the success of our organization and our most important resource,” she said. “This past year, we hosted 30 health care students on a bus tour to show them how great it is to work in our region. It was a fun and inspiring day … throughout Manitoba, we also welcomed 150 health care workers from the Philippines, and 21 of them joined our Southern Health-Santé Sud family.”
They also shared significant progress in a number of major capital projects, including in Portage, Steinbach, and at Boundary Trails Health Centre.
In a brief question and answer session, the measles outbreak was touched on. RHA reps said they have been doing everything they can to promote and make vaccinations available to all and to stress the importance of immunizations.
The financial report for Southern Health-Santé Sud for the past year showed revenue increased from $479 million to $521 million, while expenses increased from $491M to $517M. It leaves the agency with a surplus of about $3.4 million and brings its accumulated surplus to just over $51 M.
The largest category of expenses of course is acute care services, which came in at almost $171 million. Long term care services was next at nearly $85 million.
On the revenue side, provincial support makes up a vast majority of the funding at almost $456 million.
