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A multi-million dollar health care centre in a Manitoba First Nation opened its doors to the public for the first time this week, after the federal government ponied up more than $150 million to help get the facility built.
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“I have seen a lot of health centres all over the north as minister of northern affairs, but I can tell you this is one of the finest I have ever seen,” federal minister Dan Vandal said Tuesday in the Norway House Cree Nation (NHCN) at an unveiling event for the $157.9 million Kinosew Sipi Nanatawiwekamik Health Centre of Excellence.
The 9,470-square-meter facility, which is expected to be fully operational in October, will be a “fully integrated” health centre that will provide emergency, in-patient and palliative care, dialysis, rehabilitation therapy, and diagnostic community-based programs and services for residents in NHCN and the surrounding areas, according to the federal government.
Vandal called the unveiling a “momentous occasion” and touted funding the Liberal government earmarked for the project, but also the work of those in NHCN who worked for years to get the facility built.
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“Knowing that there was a great need for a centre in this region, we first announced an initial investment of $100 million back in 2018, and in the end our federal contribution for this state-of-the-art facility was just under $160 million,” Vandal said to applause.
“That funding combined with the hard work and dedication of volunteers in this community made this project a reality, and the best outcomes for Indigenous communities are achieved through programs that are designed, developed and led by First Nations, Metis and Inuit.”
Vandal added community members and leaders in NHCN played a large role in the planning and development of the new facility, and he believes it will be well suited to the specific needs of the northern First Nations community that is home to more than 6,700 on-reserve residents.
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“The community of Norway House Cree Nation was the driving force behind this, and you see the results here today,” he said. “You see it with dedicated spaces for elders to provide teachings, better access to emergency, in-patient and palliative care rehabilitative therapy, as well as community-based programs and services.
“This centre will benefit generations for years and years to come.”
Officials say the facility will be run through a “holistic model” that will include a combination of Indigenous and western health-care practices.
The health centre is the largest in Manitoba’s history that will be completely under First Nation direction, the federal government said.
NHCN band councillor David Swanson said he believes the new facility has a better chance of succeeding and meeting its goals in the long term if it is staffed from top to the bottom by First Nations people and NHCN community members, and said leaders would be actively looking for ways to get residents working in the centre.
“One of my beliefs is to build capacity from within, and in the importance for us to have the people to work in here,” Swanson said. “To have the people who will be the leaders in here, that will be the nurses, be the doctors, be the cleaning staff.
“My dream is to make that happen here.”
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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