Confusion reigns over Baffin health care

ANNETTE BOURGEOIS
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT The chair of the Baffin Regional Health Board says no decision has been made to sever ties with McGill for medical specialist services, but a letter written by the board’s chief executive officer states the opposite.

A six-month contract with Montreal-based McGill to provide specialist services in the Baffin region ends September 30 and, according to chair Ann Hanson, the board hasn’t made any decisions about where specialists will come from after that date.

No specialist care?

That means anyone who needs to see a specialist, but who’s case isn’t urgent enough to require treatment in the South, doesn’t know when, or if, they’ll be able to get that service.

Hanson said the board will meet at the end of the month to decide whether or not to switch to Ottawa. Senior management has been negotiating with officials at the Ottawa Heart Institute about contracting specialist services.

But in a letter dated September 1 from Pat Kermeen, the board’s chief executive officer, to Dr Gary Pekeles, director of the McGill-Baffin Program, Kermeen states the board has already made its decision.

“The Baffin Regional Health and Social Services Board will not be renewing our specialist physician contract with McGill,” Kermeen states. “The board has decided to enter into a contract with the Ottawa Heart Institute to develop these services for us.”

For about 30 years McGill has been providing medical, surgical and rehabiliation services to the Baffin region. In the 1996-97 year, McGill provided 36 different specialist services in Iqaluit and outlying communities to 4,700 patients.

But for the past several years, the board has been reviewing this relationship.

Problems with Montreal

Hanson cited complaints about the French language barrier for unilingual Inuit patients as one impetus for beginning the review.

“Some (patients) report that some nurses and doctors have refused to speak English,” Hanson said. “Patients who are bilingual end up interpreting. These are non-medical problems, but they’re very connected to health services.”

She added Inuit organizations, such as Pauktuutit and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc, are located in Ottawa, where there’s an Inuit population of about 400.

This, combined with only two hospitals in Ottawa compared to Montreal’s nine, should make it easier for Inuit travelling south for medical treatment. She said moving from Montreal to Ottawa would not reduce the quality of service to Baffin patients.

Board wants move to Ottawa

Doug Sage, regional superintendent for health and social services in the Baffin region, said negotiations with Ottawa started because of a board directive.

“Our marching orders are to get ready to move to Ottawa,” Sage said.

He said if the board decides to contract specialist service from Ottawa, an itinerary for specialist visits to the region can be in place in early October.

“It’s the not knowing that has people worried and they’re wondering are they even going to get a service,” Sage said. “It’s not about will we still have specialists coming here or not. Of course we will.”

Sage added that because of the long-term relationship with McGill, a number of practices, which are needlessly costing the board money, have gone unchecked.

“In some respects we think there are practices going on that shouldn’t be, that people are going South that don’t need to,” he said. “Now that we’ve examined these things, we can provide a lot of the services that have been provided in Montreal here much more effectively and cheaply.”

High cost of administration?

Sage said it should be no surprise to the director of the program in McGill that the board isn’t happy with the relationship.

“We’ve been talking to McGill for years about our concerns and they’ve only paid lip service to them, especially the high cost of administration. The McGill physicians are the best. We don’t have any problem with the services they provide, but the administration is unwilling to make the changes we need to make.”

For his part, Dr. Pekeles said the long-term relationship between Baffin and McGill has provided stability and understanding between doctors and patients.

“It enhances the care of patients when they come south because we have a critical mass of doctors either as staff or when they were residents who worked in the Baffin region and have some idea of what the context is,” he said from his Montreal office.

Phone calls ignored?

Dr Pekeles said he’s responded to a number of board concerns, which he says have been virtually ignored along with several phone calls he’s made to Iqaluit.

He suggests there are about 1,000 patients who will need to see specialists during the next several months.

“Some who would have been seen near their homes may have to come south,” he states in a letter to Nunatsiaq News. “Others will have to wait longer until the BRHSSB managers have made arrangements for replacement consultants.”

The board will meet in Iqaluit September 24-26. That meeting is open to the public.