Norway House will soon have the north’s most expensive medical facility.
A new health centre, a joint venture between the Ministry of Indigenous Services and Norway House Cree Nation, was announced for the community on Sept. 7.
In total, $100 million in funding over five years was committed to the project from the federal government. Jane Philpott, federal indigenous services minister, was in Norway House on Sept. 7 to announce the health centre.
Once built, the new facility will provide care, including emergency and in-patient care, for 8,000 living in and around Norway House. The facility will include a sweat lodge, birthing unit, pharmacy, emergency care department and programming space.
The facility will be operated by Norway House Cree Nation and, according to a press release from the Government of Canada, will be the largest health centre under First Nations control to open in Manitoba.
Another multi-million dollar commitment – $68 million in federal funding over the next three years to close health care service gaps for First Nations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario – was announced on Sept. 6. The announcement includes $42 million in funding in Manitoba alone.
While the Norway House health centre will be built, opened and operated in administrative territory of the Northern Health Region (NHR), the health centre will operate independently of the NHR, being solely a venture between Norway House Cree Nation and the Ministry of Indigenous Services. Presently, NHR does not manage a facility or operate medical or primary care in Norway House or in nearby Cross Lake. In both communities, health care is covered by the First Nation and Inuit Health Board (FNIHB).
“We are not directly involved as this is a First Nations community managed by FNIHB (First Nations and Inuit Health Branch) but are very pleased this project has been approved as it will have impact on the health of the community of Norway House,” read a statement from an NHR spokesperson.
While residents in remote northern communities often travel to larger centres like Flin Flon, The Pas or Thompson for medical care, the spokesperson said it would be unlikely that the Norway House health centre would mean any change for medical care, patient numbers or programming in Flin Flon.
“Given the distance between Flin Flon and Norway House and the transportation patterns, we expect there to be no impact in Flin Flon,” they said.
