Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services

Cambridge Bay (Oct 17/05) - The new Kitikmeot health centre may be officially opened, but it won't be fully operational until at least another year.

And one of the reasons for that is the need to hire 42 staff members, including 33 health professionals.

A sea of faces crowded the lobby for the official opening of the Kitikmeot health centre in Cambridge Bay. - Kent Driscoll/NNSL photos

They range from mid-wives, to X-ray technicians, to medical record staff to lab technicians.

Between 10 to 12 can be filled locally. Those are maintenance, housekeeping and other non-specialized positions.

The schedule of services is almost completely dependent on the hiring of staff.

The fact that the centre, located in Cambridge Bay, isn't up to full-speed didn't hurt turnout at the opening ceremonies.

From the lobby doors to the medical entrance - a span of nearly 40 feet - was wall to wall people. The only seats were for elders, arranged in a semi-circle around the podium.

Grade 1 students from Cambridge Bay elementary were given a tour of the new facility before the grand opening.

They were amazed by the only elevator in Cambridge Bay. Since there are only two floors, eager children pushing every button were not much of a problem.

Residents have been referring to the health centre as a hospital, but that title is misleading.

Mike Burdett, acting director of the Kitikmeot health centre, calls it "a health centre with expanded diagnostic and treatment ability."

The commissioner of Nunavut Ann Hanson, Premier Paul Okalik, Cambridge Bay MLA Keith Peterson and mayors from all over the region were in attendance.

The list of guests was so extensive that both hotels in Cambridge Bay were sold out and the Arctic Island Lodge was putting overflow guests into its former location.

The facility is so new the premier was sitting on a chair that still had a warranty tag dangling from it. The peach and green pastel walls were fresh and unscuffed.

"I hope that you will never have to use this facility, but if you do, it's a nice facility," joked Okalik, during his speech to the crowd.

This building is just the beginning of the process of moving health care "closer to home," the goal and catch phrase of the government.

It may be closer to home, but it is still a long way from being complete. The building is finished and the equipment is purchased. Warm bodies to operate the high-tech gear are needed more than anything.

The first phase, expected to be complete by the end of the month, calls for the operations of the old health centre to move 30 metres to the new building. Those services will occupy one quarter of the 2,343 square metre building.

Staff are eager to make the move, but they are still awaiting approval from the fire inspector. The building passed inspection but the final hurdle is the paperwork.

While the change is taking place, the centre will change its filing system. When the clinic was just responsible for Cambridge Bay, an alphabetical system sufficed. Now, a modern, numbered filing system will be one of the first major changes.

Phase two is bringing the high-tech equipment - $4 million worth - on-line. When operational, 85 per cent of all tests will done in Cambridge Bay. Right now, white cell counts, hemoglobin and other basic tests are done in the existing health centre. A test like an arterial blood gas test - where the blood from arteries is tested for oxygen and other gases - must be done in Yellowknife. The gases dissipate in 45 minutes, making transport impossible.

The lab has to pass its own test first. They will receive samples that have already been tested from a southern lab.

The samples will be tested again at the Kivaliq health centre. If the tests match, the lab can open. That process is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

Phase three is when the patients hit the beds. Short-term treatment and palliative - or end of life - care will be provided.

The beds open to the public in the new year, if recruiting of staff goes as expected.

The fourth and final phase is the one most anticipated by the people in the Kitikmeot, the birthing clinic.

Mothers will now be able to give birth closer to home. Problem pregnancies, first births and caesarean sections will still be performed in full hospitals.