Mayor says community needs more
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Aklavik (Feb 26/01) - Thanks but no thanks.
That's the reception a commitment to build a new health centre is getting from mayor Richard Gordon.
He said the centre, to be built this summer, is designed to meet the government's budgetary needs rather than the health care needs of the community.
Gordon said the centre is modelled on the one in Fort Good Hope, a community which has two nurses. Aklavik has four.
"From a community standpoint, if we don't get something that fits the community's needs and the needs of the nursing staff, we're not going to accept the building," he said.
Gordon said neither he nor Gwich'in and Inuvialuit leaders in the community have approved the design being proposed.
Public works regional superintendent Brian Lemax said the department plans to relate the community's concerns back to the Department of Health and Social Services.
Lemax said if construction of the building is to begin this summer as planned, final decisions on design will have to be made soon. He said the building is being designed now.
A central issue is the size of the building. DPW is proposing a building that is 648 square metres. Gordon said 700 square metres of space is needed, that in the proposed design the rooms are cramped, there isn't enough storage space and the pharmacy and the lab are in the same room, a combination the nurses don't like.
"They're looking at cutting their own costs, but they're not looking at the costs to the community in terms of health care," said the mayor.
Budget limits
The Department of Health and Social Services has budgeted $3.6 million for the centre, which Lemax said will take approximately eight months to build.
"There are some budgetary limitations and considerations and that's one of the reasons the building is the size it is," Lemax said.
The health centre is just part of $35 million worth of government spending in the Beaufort-Delta region this year.
Inuvik got the lion's share of the construction projects scheduled for the region. Topping the list will be the start of construction of a new hospital. This year, $13.5 million will be spent on the five-year, $44 million project.
Most of the money for the new hospital came from the federal government.
"Overall, I think Inuvik has done very well," said Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Floyd Roland of the 2001-02 territorial budget. "There's been a lot of years of work behind these projects and it's good to see it coming to fruition."
He said the new hospital will bring the biggest short-term benefits of any government project this year, but a new female young offenders facility that also begins this year will provide more in the long run because of the additional 20-22 jobs it will create.
Mackenzie-Delta MLA David Krutko said he was hoping to see more training dollars for Fort McPherson, Aklavik and Tsiigehtchic.
"We have to put more money into education and training so we can take advantage of the oil and gas opportunities coming into our area."
He said a per capita formula used to fund Aurora College adult basic education programs is not adequate for smaller communities.
Both MLAs welcomed the $5 million the government is investing in reconstruction of the NWT portion of the Dempster highway.
But Roland said he has growing concern with the increasing cost of living in the North.
The increasing price of fuel, power and, if a new road toll is approved, food is making it tougher and tougher to make ends meet, said the Inuvik MLA.
