Crisis in health care in Nunavik | A future hospital that is not unanimous

Even though the population on the Hudson Bay coast is larger and growing faster than that of Ungava Bay, it is in Kuujjuaq that the Nunavik Health and Social Services Board has chosen to build a new hospital, eagerly awaited for years. Meeting as a board of directors this week in Montreal, actors in the northern health network expressed doubts about this choice.

“We can question this decision,” says Claude Bérubé, outgoing interim director general of the Innulitsivik Health and Social Services Center, which manages health care on the Hudson coast.

M^me Bérubé, who has just handed over his position as CEO to Sara Beaulne, presented Statistics Canada data on Tuesday showing that the population of the seven villages on the Hudson Bay coast is growing much faster than that of the seven villages on the Ungava Bay.

Despite this information, it is in Kuujjuaq that the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services (RRSSSN) chose to set up the new hospital project. However, in this municipality, there has been a population decline since 2016. Puvirnituq saw its population grow by 19.7% during the same period. “When we talk about major projects in the North, we have to take these data into account,” insisted M^me Berube.

In interview with The Press, NRBHSS Acting Director General, Jennifer Munick-Watkins, explains that the location of Kuujjuaq was chosen after an evaluation of different sites according to several criteria. However, she acknowledges that the data presented this week “raises questions”. Newly arrived in office, she promises to look into the matter. The hospital project in Kuujjuaq is progressing, however, and the next step is to sit down with local authorities to determine the exact location of the building, she said.

Investigation still ongoing

The construction of a hospital has been expected for years in the North. Currently, the villages of Puvirnituq and Kuujjuaq have hospitals, but these are small and have aged. The new hospital project in Nunavik is estimated at $460 million. Before granting this sum, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) gave a mandate last year to two independent investigators on “management and governance” in the North.

Among other things, the report looked at the management of “non-insured health benefits”. These sums include, in particular, the cost of air travel for citizens of Nunavik who must go to the South for treatment and their medication. Nunavik health authorities were claiming $150 million from the government to cover these rapidly growing costs.

On the board of directors of the Tulattavik Health Center, the director of administration and logistics, Lewis Lavoie, explained Wednesday that the MSSS has agreed in recent months to pay the majority of the $150 million bill. According to Mr. Lavoie, the health centers have been able to prove the legitimacy of a large part of these fees. Only two years would still be investigated, which represents between 25 and 30 million of expenses. The report of the MSSS investigators was presented on July 22 to the NRBHSS, which followed up on the recommendations, according to Ms.^me Munick-Watkins.

“I am a transparent manager. And I want to work in collaboration with the Quebec Ministry of Health and the health centers on both coasts, ”she says. At the MSSS, it is indicated that the file is currently “under analysis”.