Northern Health Region CEO resigns, group announces acting leader

The health sector covering most of northern Manitoba is looking for a new leader.

Northern Health Region CEO Raj Sevda will resign from his job at the end of the month, according to an announcement released by the region on January 6. Sevda’s departure was first announced internally on January 2.

A January 6 statement confirmed that Sevda was resigning and that the region’s board of directors had accepted the resignation. No specific date or reason for his departure was announced.

In the statement, Sevda was quoted as saying that it has been an honor to serve the North, and that he is grateful for the dedication and cooperation of those with whom he worked.

“On behalf of the board, I want to thank Raj for his service and commitment to NHR,” board chair Kelsey Horrocks said in the statement.

Requests to the region for more information about Sevda’s departure were not answered as of Wednesday evening.

Sevada took over after Helga Bryant retired from the position in March 2023. Bryant was CEO of Northern Health and one of its predecessors, the Nor-Maine Regional Health Authority, since 2010. Following her retirement, Bryant became the new dean of nursing for the University College of the North.

As CEO, Sevda oversaw the region’s response to last summer’s northern wildfires. Many NHR facilities were evacuated and residents of its long-term care facilities were relocated to Manitoba. No facilities in the area were seriously damaged and all residents returned once the fire subsided.

Cam Ritzer is taking over as acting CEO of the region. Originally a paramedic by trade and former council member of the College of Paramedics of Manitoba, Ritzer was NHR’s vice-president of health services, community and continuing care. Ritzer, who is based in The Pas, was the group’s acting incident commander during the 2025 fire.

Challenges include security, shutdowns, racism

Under Sevda’s leadership the region saw no major service reductions or facility closures, but its largest facility, Thompson General Hospital, did. Officially grey-listed by the Manitoba Nurses Union in December. The union took the step after a few security incidents at the hospital – one on Christmas Eve 2024 when a man came to the hospital with a gun, pointed it at a staff member, then shot out a window in the hospital chapel, then a second incident last September when a patient was stabbed by a visitor while being treated.

Other long-term closures of service, including The closure of maternity care at Flin Flon General Hospital has not been reversed. Birth care at the hospital was discontinued in 2018, with NHR leadership saying it was due to staffing issues. More than seven years later, prospective parents in Flin Flon and its surrounding areas still have to go out of town to give birth, sometimes to cities like Winnipeg or Saskatchewan.

There have also been allegations of racism in treatment in this area. This also includes an example from 2023 When a member of the Tataskwyak Cree Nation reported to nearby St. Anthony General Hospital for treatment with severe stomach pain and nausea. In a lawsuit filed against NHR in 2024, the man alleged that a hospital staff member told him that they “do not treat hangovers.” According to the lawsuit, the man took a bus to Winnipeg for treatment, where he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and needed emergency surgery. None of the allegations were proved in court.

In 2022, NHR, under Bryant’s leadership, Apologizes for anti-Indigenous racism in northern health care and announced the creation of a partnership to help end racism in health care, but a year later, Kivtinohak Ininiv Minoyawin’s chief executive said the partnership had seen little progress.

NHR operates 14 health centers in the North, including hospitals in Flin Flon, The Pas and Thompson. It also works with many provincial and federally run health centers in the north.