The head of the new Southern Regional Health Authority has been spending a considerable amount of time in southeastern Manitoba lately. Chief Executive Officer Kathy McPhail(above) says she is keen to get a good handle on the health system in this area. And what's her assessment so far? "My overall impression is lots of great services being delivered to residents of this region and a high degree of commitment of staff and a high degree of pride in the work that they do. That is just so obvious and so great to see. When staff are engaged and excited about the work that they are doing, that means that the quality of care is high, and, hopefully clients, residents and patients see that quality of care in the work and the care that is delivered."

McPhail notes she has also been involved in a lot of high level meetings at the provincial level regarding the change from 11 Manitoba regional health authorities to five and that is taking up a big chunk of her time. She expects that process to be completed by the end of summer when she'll have more time to spend in the region. McPhail also says the province expects to have the new health boards in place by the end of this week.

As soon as she has additional time, McPhail says she will make more visits to the southeast. "The staff and the communities are very, very important to me. I need to get my sense of who this region is from the staff who work in this region as well as from the communities."