Iqaluit's medical boarding home looks to community to help with bed shortage

With all the beds at Iqaluit's Tammaativvik Medical Boarding Home filled nearly all the time, the staff are looking to the community to take in patients and their escorts.

• VIDEO | Iqaluit medical boarding home faces 'an explosion' of patients

"We're experiencing a drastic shortage of capacity," said Jim Taylor, the general manager of the Pairijait Tigumivik Society which operates the boarding home.

"Most of the time, except for the period over the holidays, we are maximum capacity here and looking for places to put people all the time."

With Nunavut's increasing population and people living longer, the demand of people coming to Iqaluit for medical appointments is growing, Taylor said.

The home uses hotels when space is available, but with more conferences and visitors to Iqaluit, it's becoming less of an option, he said.

The practice of having people invite patients into their homes has been going on for years. However, Taylor said that many people who used to take boarders have either passed away or are no longer willing to take them.

"We know that it's difficult for people going into private homes," he said. "It's also not very easy for the home owner to take in strangers. But if people are willing to do that, then they're helping out with the treatment of people who require to come down from the communities and it's appreciated."

Health Canada subsidy not enough, says longtime host

Natsiq Kango has been around boarders since she was a child. Her parents provided room and meals to those in the city. It was just natural for her to continue inviting people into her home. She said before the medical boarding home opened, they would have people stay anywhere from two days to a month and a half.

She says that today, visitors typically only stay a day or two.

It has become more difficult to have people stay with them, she said, as a subsidy provided by Health Canada has fluctuated over the years. She said that she now receives a daily amount of $50 per adult, as long as Tammaativvik assigns the person to them.

Kango says that at that price, it's difficult to provide meal, space, and utilities for boarders. 

"It means we are not receiving any allowance from this. It's only to cover the patient's... room and board. But room and board at $50 is not enough."

However, that doesn't mean that Kango will stop accepting people.

"If they prefer to stay with me, I would allow them to stay with me because they have to be in a comfortable place," she said.

"We want to welcome, we want to make them feel comfortable. We don't want to create an issue with the boarder even if it's going to be a financial impact on us, we still don't want to make them uncomfortable."

Taylor said he realizes "$50 a day for an adult, it doesn't sound like very much, but it's more than you would get if you were volunteering."

He's hoping to get 20 to 30 households — who can provide a safe home, meals and a separate bedroom for the boarders — to volunteer to become involved.