Regional health authority boards across this province will be taking on a new look.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen of Steinbach announced Thursday they are shrinking in size. The four rural RHA boards will move from 15 to 12 members, while Winnipeg RHA will be reduced from 21 to 15 board members.

"There will be reductions in the size of the boards," explains Goertzen. "We think that they will manage themselves better as a board."

Not only that, but the province is also now calling for nominations for each board position. Nominations are due by September 16th. Following that, officials will be scoring individuals based on

(Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen)their knowledge, skills and experience.

Goertzen says nobody is being removed from their position just yet. There will be a phase-in period with appointments expected by early November. Goertzen says any current board members can certainly reapply. He says existing boards will remain in place until the reduction in board size takes effect.

"This isn't about indicating that there's anyone in particular or a board collectively that is insufficient," notes Goertzen. "But it is about being open and transparent in trying to build the best boards collectively that we can to do the important work that we need to have done."

Further to that, he says the Auditor General told the previous government a couple of years ago that the appointment of board members needs to be more transparent and there needs to be more accountability for the skill set that individuals bring to a board.

Goertzen says reducing the number of board members should not change the level of representation coming from any one community in the province. That is because, according to Goertzen, representation has less to do with an individual area and more to do with skill sets an individual brings to the table.

"I think that would be one of the skill sets that we will want to evaluate," says Goertzen. "To ensure that people who are applying for the board can look at the larger picture and say what is good for the entire region, what will benefit people generally through the region, not just in one particular street or one particular neighbourhood."

Back in 2012, South Eastman Health joined Central Region to form Southern Health-Santé Sud. Goertzen says four years later, when the new government decided to make changes to regional health authorities, there was never a consideration to split up RHA's.

"We've just gone through the amalgamation process," explains Goertzen. "To sort of re-enter that process and either further amalgamate RHA's or to break them up would have been a very difficult system to go through again."

Meanwhile, Goertzen says one of the frustrations he hears from board members is that they feel they have no authority to make decisions. The Health Minister says that's about to change.

"There's no point of being on a board if you neither have clear direction, nor if you have any authority to meet that direction," says Goertzen. "So that is an important part of the change as well."