Permanent boards of directors have been named for Manitoba's five new, merged regional health authorities (RHAs), Health Minister Theresa Oswald announced

"We are continuing to move forward with focusing on what matters most to Manitobans and, with five regional health authorities rather than 11, the administrative savings will be reinvested into supporting front-line care," said Oswald. "The new boards now in place for regional health authorities have been selected to ensure an appropriate balance of skills, experience, diversity and geographic representation, and will focus on ensuring a smooth transition by streamlining the merged corporate operations while avoiding disruptions to front-line care."

The chairs of the new boards are:

• Doug Lauvstad, Northern RHA;
• Margaret MacDonald, Western RHA;
• Denise Harder, Southern RHA;
• Diane Kelly, Interlake-Eastern RHA; and
• Dr. John Wade, the new, merged Winnipeg-Churchill health region.

All board members were selected from those who served on the previous 11 RHA boards. Through the merger process, 81 RHA board positions have been eliminated, Oswald said.

The new boards have taken over from temporary interim boards that were in place for less than a month to oversee the establishment of the newly merged RHAs, begin merging the corporate structures and appointing the new chief executive officers.

The permanent boards will look for ways to streamline administration, focus on provincial priorities, such as ensuring all Manitobans have access to a family doctor, and work to strengthen local community involvement in health care, the minister said.

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