Whale Cove (Apr 11/05) - John Ussak is no physiotherapist, but with a few clicks of his mouse, he can connect rehab patients in Whale Cove to one.

"It's pretty helpful for us here," says the Telehealth technician as he swivels the remote-controlled camera mounted over his computer screen.

Medical specialists will be able to diagnose residents of Whale Cove with the help of newly-installed teleconferencing technology, operated by technicians like John Ussak. - John Thompson/NNSL photo

Whale Cove was the last of 25 communities to be connected to the Telehealth network last week.

That makes Nunavut the first jurisdiction in Canada to be completely wired together by the medical teleconferencing system.

Health officials are optimistic the system will help overcome problems unique to the territory, where communities are scattered across vast distances and few doctors, and even fewer specialists, are available.

"We can never afford the southern model," said Bernie Blais, deputy minister of Health. "And by the way, the southern model isn't that good."

Over the last few years, about 30 technicians, who also work as nurses, x-ray technicians or even janitors in health centres, have been trained across Nunavut.

The next challenge is to work out the logistics of scheduling times for southern specialists to regularly diagnose Nunavummiut across three time zones.

"We don't have the critical mass of one community," Blais said.

Telehealth could help lessen the cultural shock for patients who have to fly south for treatment, said Health and Social Services minister Levinia Brown.

For example, she said, a family visit could be done via teleconference or follow-up visits could be performed from home communities online, allowing patients to see more of their families.

"You'll be seeing each other," she said.

Another role for Telehealth will be to expand the knowledge of nurses in the communities by facilitating online training sessions.

Currently, a weekly pediatrics seminar is broadcast from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario to the Baffin Regional Hospital.

"We'd like to deliver that training to every health centre," Blais said.

But there are bandwidth limits. Right now, only five communities can be connected at one time.

Blais said Nunavut has the opportunity to lead the way for the south. "They can learn from us."

NorthwestTel donated $75,000 to purchase Whale Cove's Telehealth system and installed the wiring free of charge. charge.