The Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre at Couchiching will hold its grand opening this Monday (Oct. 25) at 10 a.m. to showcase the numerous services available to First Nations members throughout Tribal Area #10.
Located near the Nanicost building, the access centre has been busy serving the 5,700 reserve residents of Tribal Area #10, as well as about 200 urban-based status and non-status natives and 160 area Métis, since opening in April.
That’s the reason for the delay in holding the grand opening, said Cathy Bruyere, director of the access centre and executive director of the Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Authority.
Also housing the health authority and the Fort Frances Medical Services Branch, services offered at the access centre include basic health care, health education, nutrition counselling, referral to traditional healing, diabetes education, long-term case management, and HIV/AIDS education.
“Basically, [the health authority does] health planning for the bands at a tribal level,” Bruyere explained.
“The access centre itself services all aboriginal people in the district, regardless of whether they’re reserve status or not,” she noted. “And the medical services branch deals with public health, such as immunization and communicable disease control.”
Bruyere noted since the three have been housed together, the services have been slightly busier than when they were in different locations.
“We see about 125 patients a month at the clinic, and I can’t tell you how many education sessions we’ve done in all the communities,” she remarked.
While many of the nearby First Nations communities such as Couchiching use the centre directly, much of its programming is being brought to more remote reserves like Lac La Croix and Big Grassy.
“We have to pay attention to programming that’s already going on in communities so we’re not parachuting programs in. We do what the communities want us to do,” Bruyere stressed.
“For example, if they want a first-aid program, we can do that,” she said.
Not strictly focused on health information, service at the access centre includes primary care, with one physician (Dr. Pierre Mikhail) attending to patients there five days a month.
Nurse practitioner Dannette MacDonald also is on hand to give physicals, screening tests, and medical advice when Dr. Mikhail is not there.
“It’s getting busier all the time. It’s certainly busy enough to legitimize the existence–and possible expansion–of such a centre,” said MacDonald.
She added when the access centre hires a second nurse practitioner in the near future, it will be able to provide more of the clinical services on a community level.
Donna Hayes serves as its registered nurse.
Another aspect of medical service offered there is the traditional healing referral service.
“There’s people that have all sorts of problems with their health and they can come to me to find out how to get help,” said Albert Henderson, the traditional healing co-ordinator.
“I then refer them to an elder. I don’t choose the elder for them–I give them a list and then we figure a protocol on how to approach that elder,” he noted.
Henderson said although his service may not see a steady stream of patients seeking traditional healing, it was an important alternative.
“What a person wants to see in terms of healing, we will respect. We’ll try to help them out the most we can,” he stressed.
Other staff at the access centre include translator Clint Geyshick, health educator Kate Brant, and registered dietitian Janet Drennan.
While Brant heads up programs such first-aid and babysitting courses, physical fitness promotion, and HIV/AIDS education, Drennan focuses on nutrition counselling.
“I do the full range–for weight loss, heart disease, pre-natal, post-natal,” she noted, adding her services are being used more often since the access centre moved from the Nanicost building.
Bruyere noted with the “centralization” of services, and the increase in traffic, feedback has been positive so far.
“I think that has to do with the downtown clinic being understaffed. Here, we can give a little more time to patients. We’re able to explain things much more clearly,” she remarked.
“And we’ve had good patient compliance with our various plans. People are coming back for check-ups and we can follow up on how they’re doing,” she added.
Construction on the access centre started last November when the money to build it was cemented by a $150,000 grant from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp.
The significant balance of the bill was footed by the health authority and its partners–the eight First Nations of Tribal Area #10, the United Native Friendship Centre here, and Sunset Country Métis.
Fort Frances Times
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