'It would be a huge economic blow to Chesterfield' - Ritter
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Chesterfield Inlet (Feb 14/01) - The Churchill/Hudson Bay Diocese will not renew its contract in April to operate St. Therese Hospital in Chesterfield Inlet.
Bishop Reynald Rouleau says it is time for the Nunavut Government to take over the hospital.
"I'm hoping this will be approached as simply a change of management, nothing more," says Rouleau. "Hopefully, the NG will keep the hospital open. There's a definite need for the service in Nunavut and, of course, it's extremely important to Chesterfield Inlet."
Rouleau adds the church will not immediately withdraw its services on April 1 if the NG indicates it will take over the facility.
"We won't put the residents out the street. If the government requires a few months for a transition period, we will find a way to accommodate that. But I don't have the energy anymore to oversee the operation and it's difficult to find the resources you need to properly run the facility," says Rouleau
"If we were to lose the hospital, it would be a huge economic blow to Chesterfield," says hamlet senior administrative officer Darren Ritter. "We are in contact with Health and Social Services about this situation."
The hospital is managed under contract by the Department of Health and Social Services.
Nurse's manager, Dianne Raniowski, says the hospital cares for eight residents and has up to 37 full- and part-time employees.
She says the hospital's residents require intensive care and, should the facility close, would have to be relocated to extremely costly long-term care facilities in the south.
"The hospital represents roughly $360,000 in salaries which come into Chester annually. We purchase about $50,000 in groceries annually and pay about $1,600 a month to the hamlet for our water bill and other services," she says.
"To say the hospital would be a big loss to the community, would be an understatement."
Before the Churchill/Hudson Bay Diocese took over St. Therese, it had been managed by the Grey Nuns of Manitoba. The Grey Nuns had been in Chesterfield since 1954, before the last two sisters left the hamlet in September 1999.
