The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Manitoba government says a planned $7.2-million health-care centre in Pine Falls will combine traditional Aboriginal healing practices with modern medicine in a state-of-the-art setting. The healing centre will be added to an existing health complex in Pine Falls, 130 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2009. The centre will be designed to reflect aboriginal culture by offering: a place where aboriginal approaches to palliative care can be offered, a place for traditional ceremony and smudging including a place where a sacred fire could be lit, kitchen facilities where families can prepare traditional foods and medicines for their loved ones in hospital, and a place of education on aboriginal history and teachings around healing and wellness. ÒWorking with aboriginal elders and advisors, we will create a facility that offers the best of both modern medicine and traditional aboriginal teachings,Ó said Health Minister Theresa Oswald. ÒWe are committed to offering the very best medical care we can while honouring traditional practices and our provinceÕs aboriginal heritage.Ó The healing centre was developed in consultation with local First Nation leaders. ÒThis expansion of the Pine Falls Health Complex marks a true partnership between First Nations and the provincial government,Ó said Sagkeeng First Nation Chief Donavan Fontaine.
