Norway House Cree Nation unveils new state-of-the-art health-care centre

Government officials joined leaders in Norway House Cree Nation to celebrate the community's new health-care centre that plans to open its doors in early October. 

Unveiling the new high-tech facility Kinosew Sipi Nanatawiwekamik Health Centre of Excellence on Tuesday was "phenomenal," and a major step toward advancing health care in northern Manitoba, said Loretta Bayer, a senior policy analyst at the facility. 

Bayer said the health-care centre would have opened earlier this year, but supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to impact the delivery of diagnostic equipment to Norway House, located 455 kilometres north of Winnipeg. 

"We're almost there to have the federal staff, the clinic staff, public health staff come into the same facility and to provide the services that we desire, that the community deserves," Bayer told CBC on Tuesday. 

Kinosew Sipi Nanatawiwekamik Health Centre of Excellence is the largest health centre in Manitoba history that will operate through First Nations leadership, a federal news release said on Tuesday. 

The centre, which cost $157.9 million and is more than 9,000 square metres, is a fully-integrated health care facility that will provide emergency, in-patient and palliative care, dialysis, rehabilitation therapy, as well as diagnostic community-based programs and services to the residents in Norway House and surrounding areas. 

The federal government initially estimated the facility would cost $100 million to build. 

Patients had to travel for care

Bayer said some health-care procedures and life-saving medical treatment cannot be completed at the old hospital in the community, which means patients have to travel to Thompson or Winnipeg to give birth or receive dialysis. 

According to the federal release, more than 9,000 people live in Norway House Cree Nation. 

"It's more common than you imagine when people have to leave their home, their relatives, their family, our community and way of life when they have to relocate to ensure that they're able to live a certain standard of life," Bayer said. 

She said people who are expecting usually have to leave their community for three to four weeks to have their baby, which can add extra stress if they aren't able to bring any family members for support. 

Having the health-care centre in the community will make a "significant difference" for people because it includes a birthing room, tub and neonatal resuscitation area, Bayer said. 

At the old facility, only four chairs were available in a crammed room that helped 12 hemodialysis patients access care, but now these patients — and more — will be able to sit comfortably in a spacious area at the centre, Bayer said. 

The state-of-the-art-facility also has a new water and electrical system so if the power goes out, a backup generator can run between five and seven days, which is a major upgrade compared to the old centre, she said. 

Staff also envision having a two-bedroom surgical unit that would provide a wide range of medical procedures to reduce the need for community members to transfer to other hospitals in the province, Bayer said. 

While the old facility uses paper medical charts, Bayer said the Kinosew Sipi Nanatawiwekamik Health Centre of Excellence will upgrade to an electronic medical record system in the future. 

The completion of the health-care centre is a reflection of the leadership's commitment to address the health care and wellness needs within the community, Chief Larson Anderson in Norway House Cree Nation said in a federal news release. 

"Over the past years, countless individuals have dedicated their time, energy and expertise to make this vision a reality," Anderson said.

"This included the establishment of JNR Construction, a NHCN led-joint venture that delivered economic benefit to our nation through training opportunities and jobs to our members."

Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal, Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Uzoma Asagwara and representatives from Shared Health, Northern Health Authority and the Interlake Regional Health Authority also attended the celebration.