But as of Oct. 1, 1997 the tie between the unit and the Keewatin Regional Health Board will be severed. The board is not renewing NMU's contract.

"We're very disappointed that the University of Manitoba through NMU was unable to reach an agreement with the KRHB," said Dr. Sharon Macdonald, director of the NMU and a member of the faculty of medicine at the University of Manitoba.

"We regret deeply that we will no longer be working with Inuit and we very much wish to remain friends of the Keewatin. We feel sad the KRHB feels they can find a better and different service elsewhere."

NMU was surprised to heard from the board back in November that it wanted to break off negotiations. At that time they said they were interested in seeking alternative service options.

NMU offered to open negotiations in recent weeks but the board has refused to go back into talks.

"The KRHB said they have fiscal realities and they said there's not as much money as there used to be," Macdonald said.

The contract is typically worth $1.6 million a year. Under the contract the university provides a variety of services including family practitioning and medical specialist work.

NMU was advised by the board that it is placing advertisements for the positions NMU provides. If present staff want to work for the board after Oct. 1, they will have to reapply.

Right now there are three interpreter positions, three family physician positions, one clerical position in Winnipeg, one nurse co-ordinator in Winnipeg, two interpreter positions in Churchill and more than 20 consultant positions who travel to the Keewatin regularly.

The university also runs research programs for students.

For example, currently University of Manitoba medical student Iris McKeown is in Chesterfield Inlet studying Helicobactor pylori, a bug believed to be transmitted through drinking water that causing stomach aches in humans. Results of her research will be known in the fall.

Macdonald hopes the board has a plan in place to ensure the positions will be filled effectively in the fall.

"I think it is difficult to recruit doctors for Northern areas. They should have a very strong plan in place to recruit doctors. Many of the specialists who have been visiting the Keewatin from NMU have been travelling for 25 years," she said.

Macdonald has talked with many of the specialists and doctors who work in the North but to her knowledge no one has signed up with the KRHB yet.

"The family doctors and the consultants I've talked to are not interested," she said. "They have told me they are also very concerned about these changes."

Last Thursday, board chair Bette Palfrey said nothing has been finalized with NMU adding that negotiations were still open.

Palfrey was on her way out of town and did not have time to discuss details of the contract. Jim Egan, chief executive officer of the board, was away on vacation and also unavailable for comment.

Palfrey announced early last month plans to build a hospital in Rankin Inlet as outlined in the recent Med-Emerg report.

The expanded multi-care facility would allow the repatriation of services from Churchill, Man., and help offset travel costs. Last year alone, the board spent $6 million on medical travel to the South.