Access to health care is the greatest concern of the newly-minted President and CEO of the unit which runs our health care system.

Pat Parfrey, who co-authored the Health Accord, says he hears concerns about access to emergency and other services, whether that be surgery or testing, every day.

Parfrey says Canada ranks ninth out of ten of the wealthiest countries in terms of access to health care, and Newfoundland and Labrador definitely has a problem with access. But he says things are improving, especially in terms of family practice.

The NLHS boss says at the peak on Family Connect, the government site where people sign up for a family doctor, 96,000 people had registered. That number, says Parfey, is down to about 46,000.

He expects that number to decrease further over the next year. He says the number of diversions at emergency rooms are far fewer than they were a year ago at category B hospitals, and they’ve had improvements in high priority surgeries such as joint replacements, cardiac and other surgeries.