by Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Oct 29/97) - Medical service will get better, Keewatin Regional Health Board director Jim Egan promises.

Patients in Keewatin communities outside Rankin Inlet haven't received any community doctor visits since the Northern Medical Unit contract ended Sept. 30.

Egan said there has been just one doctor in the region since the contract ended, but the situation is only temporary and promises better medical service in the coming weeks.

"We're building up our service -- there's been only one doctor," he said. "There's no patient at risk," said Eagan.

And the board is in a money-saving position while it builds up its medical staff.

"It stands to reason we're saving (money) because we don't have nowhere near the administrative costs (associated with the NMU)," said Eagan.

Community visits have been halted for the time being because the newly-hired doctor -- Dr. Craig Frost -- is operating out of Rankin Inlet.

Egan called the first phase of the KRHB's plan for better delivery of medical services a three-month build-up to the new program.

Under the NMU contract, each community received a physician visit about once a month or 11 visits per year, added Egan.

The NMU cost the board roughly $130,000 per month or $1.6 million annually. This means that the board has been able to offset some of this expenditure already since the contract ended.

The new program, Egan said, will include five new doctors for the region -- three based out of Rankin Inlet, one in Arviat and another in Baker Lake. This is phase two of a two-tier system the board is implementing. The plan is still in phase one while the board continues to recruit doctors.

Egan estimated the board will save $212,000 during phase one and that the number of medical service days will increase by 54 per cent from the service provided by the NMU, or to about 16, up from the NMU-provided 11 visits per year.

The second phase, he said, will see a further increase in the number of doctor days by 130 per cent, or to about 26 days per year.

A second doctor is scheduled to arrive in Rankin Inlet Nov.1, a third doctor on Nov.24, and by Dec.1, two additional doctors will arrive in the region.

While some of these physicians will be working in the Keewatin temporarily, Egan said there will be a minimum of one or two doctors on site at any given time.

"The number of doctors varies from month to month depending on the number of locums, but there are doctors coming," he said. "There will be four physicians in December."

Consultations with Churchill doctors will also continue as more doctors are hired for the Keewatin. Eventually, all consultation will be done within the region.

Meaanwhile, the Kivalliq Inuit Association is bringing its concerns about health care services in the region to Ottawa.

KIA president Paul Kaludjak said last week in a press conference that his organization has sent letters to federal minister of health Allan Rock and DIAND minister Jane Stewart asking them to investigate health care practices in the Keewatin. They want a public inquiry into the situation.

Kaludjak said that the Canada Health Act has been broken with the recent changes in medical services.

"It appears that the KRHB did not have any legal authority by which to have attempted to repatriate the delivery of medical services from the NMU," he said.

Kaludjak said the minister of health and social services is to blame for this happening and has called for Kelvin Ng's resignation.

"The health care system he is responsible for is in chaos," he added.