The Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

responsible for

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

delivery and regulation for the Northern Health Region (NHR)—specifically

northern Manitoba Northern Manitoba (also known as NorMan or Nor-Man) is a geographic and cultural List of regions of Manitoba, region of the Provinces and Territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Originally encompassing a small square around the Red ...

, excluding

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

. The NRHA covers the largest geographical area of the 5 regional health authorities (RHAs) in Manitoba, spanning over , or nearly two-thirds of the province. It was formed in 2012 by the merger of the former NOR-MAN and Burntwood Regional Health Authorities. Within the region, there are 2 cities, 6 towns, 1

rural municipality A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries. These include: * Rural municipality (Canada), Rural municipalities in Canada, a Lists of municipalities in Canada, type of municipa ...

, 1

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

, and numerous unorganized territories made up of

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

and cottage settlements; as well as 26

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

communities and 16 Northern Affairs communities. The NRHA maintains offices in each of its three major centres:

Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within M ...

The Pas The Pas ( ; french: Le Pas) is a town in Manitoba, Canada, located at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River and surrounded by the unorganized Northern Region of the province. It is approximately northwest of the provinc ...

, and

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

Communities

Accounting for just below 6% of the provincial population, the Northern Health Region has a population of 74,175 people. With an area of over , the region has a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 0.18 persons per km²—compared to 2.19 persons per km² for the entire province of Manitoba. The region has a young population with a

median age A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...

of 26 (compared to Manitoba at 37), and nearly one in three residents (30%) of the region are under the age of 15 (compared to 19% of Manitoba residents). Contrastly, 6.1% of Northern Region residents are age 65 and older (compared to 14.1% of Manitobans). Within the region, there are: * 2 cities (

and

) * 6 towns (

, Gillam,

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

Leaf Rapids Leaf Rapids is a town in north west Manitoba, Canada. The town was developed as an experimental model; a model that other northern communities could replicate as they strove for modern convenience and luxury in a northern environment. The communit ...

Lynn Lake Lynn Lake is a town in the northwest region of Manitoba, Canada, approximately from Winnipeg. The town is the fourth-largest town in Manitoba in terms of land area. It is centred on the original urban community of Lynn Lake. The town was named ...

, and Snow Lake) * 1

( Kelsey) * 1

(

Mystery Lake Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

) * 26

communities * 16 Northern Affairs communities * Numerous unorganized territories made up of

and cottage settlements (e.g.

Norway House Norway House is a population centre of over 5,000 people, some north of Lake Winnipeg, on the bank of the eastern channel of Nelson River, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. The population centre shares the name ''Norway House'' with the north ...

)

Indigenous communities

The NRHA serves 26

communities, or ' reserves'. According to

Manitoba Health Manitoba Health (formerly Health, and Seniors Care, MHSC; also known as Manitoba Health) is the department of the Government of Manitoba that is responsible for leading the development of policy and publicly-administered health system planning i ...

's 2012 census, about 40% of the region's residents live on reserves while the remaining 60% live off-reserve. However, residents frequently travel on and off reserve and access health services in both locations. In addition to issues of gaps in patient follow-ups and on-going

continuity of care Transitional care refers to the coordination and continuity of health care during a movement from one healthcare setting to either another or to home, called care transition, between health care practitioners and settings as their condition and car ...

, having more than one health-services provider—First Nation Inuit Health (FNIH) for on-reserve services and the Region for off-reserve services—can cause confusion among residents in terms of accessing care.2019-20 NRHA Annual Report
/ref> There are over a dozen additional First Nations communities that the NRHA serves; a challenge for the NRHA is that many of these First Nations communities do not have year-round all-weather road access, with many of these First Nations communities relying on rail, boat, and/or air service to travel. This limited access has significant implications on the health of the residents. Per the

2006 Census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, over two-thirds (67.4%) of residents self-identify as " Aboriginal." Residents of the Northern Health Region account for 81% of Manitoba residents who report speaking an Aboriginal language; just below one-third of residents (31.9%) report speaking at least one Aboriginal language compared to only 6% of Manitobans overall.

Facilities

The NRHA maintains offices in each of its three major centres:

, and

References

Notes

{{Reflist, group=lower-roman

External links

Government of Manitoba - Regional Health Authorities
Health regions of Manitoba