Coppermine (Sep 20/04) - Not long ago, Mila Kamingoak, an 18-year-old student from Kugluktuk, was in agony after tearing ligaments in her knee.

She was sent first to Edmonton, then to Yellowknife for treatment because there was no doctor to treat her at home.

When Kamingoak heard about the new health care funding coming from Ottawa, she had a lot to say about ways it can help Nunavut.

"Every community in Nunavut should have its own doctor," Kamingoak said.

"We are wasting too much money. My MRI scan in Edmonton took like 20 minutes, but I was down there for three days and then I had to go to Yellowknife. That was a few more days."

Nunavut's 25 communities and 30,000 people are spread across 1.9 million square kilometres.

There are no roads connecting communities here and there are just three doctors living and working in Nunavut.

Recruiting and retaining health care workers continues to be a huge issue for all parts of the territory.

Very frustrating

New health care funding is much-needed in a community like Kugaaruk, said Celine Ningark, a mother of four boys and two girls.

"It's very frustrating when there is an eye doctor coming in only for a short time," said Ningark. She has repaired her own eyeglasses in the past. When there is no eye doctor, you make do.

"People want to see the doctor. Travelling by air is very expensive, so you wait. Then they are all booked up when they arrive," Ningark said.

"You wait for another year," she said. "And that year may never come."

In Kugaaruk getting seen by a family physician at least once a year is rare.

Many of Ningark's family members have died of cancer. She feels they may not have died if they had regular check-ups.

"I want to live longer," said Ningark, allowing herself to laugh. "But when the doctor is coming you have to tell the nurse why you want to see the doctor."

People with more serious, pressing illnesses get the attention. If you seek a regular check-up, you may not get seen at all, she said.

"I just want a check-up like everybody else," said Ningark.

Nunavummiut hope the funding keeps more doctors, nurses and patients in Nunavut.

More money for training

"They need to put money into training more Nunavut nurses so that more people can have their babies in Nunavut," said Lenny Hikomak in Kugluktuk.

Lenny and his partner Joanne gave birth to Nunavut's first triplets on May 22 in Edmonton.

"We had to go south to have our babies," Hikomak said.

"We were down there for two months. That's a long time to be away from your family and your kids."

Hikomak has heard about the Inuit students currently training as nurses in Nunavut and wants to send them a strong message.

"Tell them to keep going," he said. "You shouldn't have to go so far away."