GNWT pressed to explain what new Indigenous clinic will actually do

The NWT government is being pushed by MLAs to explain what its new Indigenous wellness clinic will do that differs from other clinics. One Indigenous MLA compared it to “segregation.”

The clinic is being developed at the Łıwegǫ̀atì Building, an old hospital in Yellowknife that is now home to primary care and some other services.

Premier RJ Simpson said last week the clinic “will grow into a centre of excellence and innovation for Indigenous healthcare that will improve culturally appropriate care across the NWT.”

But this week, MLAs expressed three key concerns: they don’t know what the clinic will offer, they find the approach being taken to the project odd, and it seems out of place in a majority-Indigenous territory.

Newly appointed health minister Denny Rodgers said the project is “not your typical clinic” but offered few details and ultimately promised a more detailed briefing.

“I sense a little bit of confusion, maybe from myself as well, on this,” Rodgers told MLAs.

Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan had summed up the thoughts of multiple MLAs when she asked: “Can the minister at least explain more to us: what is it?”

“We’re creating a space, a physical space. What is this thing? Is it going to be like a community health centre? Like, what is even the function of it? What is the vision?” Morgan asked.

“Can we at least explain in a broad sense, in plain language for the rest of us, what is an Indigenous clinic in Yellowknife?”

Rodgers said the GNWT was “working with our Indigenous government partners on this and designing it as we go.”

“We want to include programming, traditional medicines, traditional healing and integrated care,” the minister said. “That’s the intent of this facility, to have those functions in place for Indigenous populations.”

To Frame Lake MLA Julian Morse, that seemed odd.

“I can understand, in a place like Ontario, why an Indigenous-focused clinic might be needed. Here in the NWT, one in two clients that walk into a hospital or health centre in any given community is likely to be Indigenous,” said Morse.

“Should we not simply be focusing on doing this kind of integrated care that the minister is talking about in any of the health services that the territory is delivering?”

Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon Armstrong went further.

“The minister said it’s an integrated service but, in reality, it is similar to a segregation – is that true?” Weyallon Armstrong commented.

“It’s really upsetting that we have to have this kind of building to serve Indigenous people when the majority of the people living in the Northwest Territories are Indigenous people.”

Rodgers, trying to clarify why the clinic is needed, said it would “create a dedicated space where Indigenous residents can access care that reflects their cultural values, experiences and wellness needs.”

He repeatedly stressed it is being designed in a working group set up through the NWT Council of Leaders, a body that involves many of the territory’s Indigenous governments.

“Indigenous people obviously will still have access to our regular healthcare,” said Rodgers. “This specific clinic is for Indigenous people only, culturally centred, and a clinic for that.”

Federal funding constraints

The clinic is being developed with federal funding, which territorial government staff said had changed the way they are getting the work done.

For example, the space where the clinic will be established – inside the Łıwegǫ̀atì Building – has been decided before anyone is sure what the clinic will offer and which workers it needs.

Morgan felt that amounted to “putting the cart before the horse.”

“I am having trouble understanding how we could go ahead and start building or renovating the space without really having any clear vision yet of even the services that we’re offering, let alone how many staff, what kinds of staff, what kinds of treatments,” the MLA said.

Chris Clarke-McQueen, director of infrastructure planning for the Department of Health and Social Services, acknowledged that Morgan’s preferred approach – identify the services and staff needed, then design the space – is “the typical way we want to do planning of projects.”

“But this project is with funding from the federal government and we need to accelerate that schedule,” Clarke-McQueen said, “so we’re determining the programs offered and the spatial needs required to respond to those programs in tandem with the Council of Leaders working group.”

Rodgers added that he agreed with Morgan’s concerns, “but we are under funding constraints on this one.”

The exact nature of those constraints was not specified. The federal government has announced $3.75 million for the clinic, plus $1.25 million in territorial funding, but no details have been published about associated deadlines or conditions.

Morgan said she worried that “we’re going to have a beautiful new space with either no one to work in it or not the people that we want working in it.”

Morse said he would give the minister “the benefit of the doubt that this is going to be something positive that will help expand what we’re able to offer in the territory,” but he had concerns about the bigger picture.

“The entire health system feels like such a house of cards right now, it’s so fragile. We have increasing numbers of people needing to go to medical travel because we have less and less services available,” he said.

“There’s so much we need to do to get our whole system in order that I don’t want to lose sight of that.”