(Montreal) The first family health clinic adapted for Indigenous needs in Montreal officially opened its doors Friday morning.
This project, which was initiated in 2021, is supported by Montréal Autochtones to ensure the deployment and sustainability of a range of health and social services adapted to the identity and particularities of the Indigenous clientele who find themselves in the metropolitan area.
The announcement of the opening was made Friday by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, and the Minister responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit, Ian Lafrenière.
Mr. Dubé was delighted that the new clinic promotes the local aspect of providing front-line care. “We don’t ask the person who arrives at the clinic if they are registered with a family doctor or if they called 811. We tell them: ‘what are your needs?’, and depending on the need, we will help you find the right person.
“We are in the process of re-examining this concept of front-line proximity. […] The example of the clinic is part of this vision,” mentioned Mr. Dubé.
The clinic aims to improve access to “culturally safe” front-line services for the urban indigenous population of Montreal in complementarity with existing public services.
Social workers, called navigators, will ensure that the Indigenous person has received adequate service based on their needs, a bit like after-sales service, explains Mr. Dubé.
The Montreal metropolitan region has more than 35,000 people of indigenous origin, including 13,000 on the island. It is one of the largest indigenous communities in Quebec in an urban environment.
“More than half of First Nations and Inuit members do not live in communities, they live in urban areas,” said Minister Lafrenière. This is why the clinic we are announcing today makes perfect sense. In Montreal, several thousand people live there, who gravitate there, who are passing through. This requires services that are culturally adapted. That means having browsers, welcoming them well, ensuring that the system meets their needs and not that they respond to the needs of the system. »
The Montreal care space joins the seven other culturally safe health clinics already in place in the province. Other projects of this type are already in the pipeline and announcements could be made soon, Mr. Lafrenière said.
The Montreal health clinic will offer various front-line services with particular attention paid to prevention. The health professionals who will work there are trained in the realities and needs of Indigenous communities.
“We hope to be able to train medical personnel who are indigenous. We can become a gateway for internships or different levels of involvement as well as other non-native practitioners who want to discover how to better do their practice,” declared Philippe Meilleur, general director of Montréal Autochtone.
During his speech, Mr. Meilleur emphasized that “for too long” the Indigenous community has been confronted with experiences of discrimination and racism.
“This negligence allowed inhumane situations like what Joyce Echaquan experienced during her last minutes,” he said. These collective and intergenerational traumas have widened a gap of distrust pushing our people too often to avoid traditional healthcare structures. »
He highlighted the importance of a project like that of the new health clinic adapted to indigenous realities, which will help reverse the negative impacts experienced by generations.
“Patient members” can be monitored by a medical team made up of family doctors and nurses from the University Family Medicine Clinic (GMF-U) of Verdun.
The clinic premises, located on Saint-Jacques Street, are made up of two examination rooms and three multipurpose rooms which can be used for different types of consultation.
The centerpiece that makes this place unique, called the “cedar room”, is made up of several armchairs with wooden walls. It will be used, among other things, for people from indigenous communities who wish to be supported by a knowledge keeper. It is also possible to carry out several ceremonies and traditional well-being practices there — suitable ventilation has been installed.
On the other hand, Mr. Meilleur said he had undertaken canvassing with the DPJ to have the clinic recognized within the framework of the youth protection law. “We want to ensure the culture of children and the well-being of the family,” said Mr. Meilleur.
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