RANKIN INLET - The Kivalliq Inuit Centre is supposed to be a home away from home, but one Rankin Inlet resident says her most recent visit was anything but.

Jennifer Oolooyuk said her visit in March seemed more like staying in a hotel than in a centre intended to ease the stress of Inuit on medical travel.

Oolooyuk said when she was unable to return to the centre for meals because she had to be at the hospital with her sick six-week-old daughter, she was given meal tickets worth only $8.

"I complained to them, I told them I'm a breastfeeding mother, that's not enough for me," she said.

After Oolooyuk complained, the centre issued new meal tickets worth $12.

"I don't know if they did it for everyone else but they did it for me," she said.

Staff at the Inuit centre confirmed that meal tickets are issued when clients are unable to return to the centre for meals and are worth a maximum of $12.

Part-owner Anthony Chang said the centre issues tickets worth a total of $30 a day for three meals, but said tickets aren't transferable from meal to meal.

"If they don't have breakfast, they can't put it towards lunch," he said.

He also said tickets aren't given to people staying in the centre, but are only issued if a person has to stay at a hotel because the centre is full.

Assistant manager Stacey Gulka said tickets are issued to be used at hospital cafeterias and are given to any client who is not able to return to the centre for meals.

"We do have meal tickets at the hospital for people when they're escorting so they can eat at the cafeteria," she said. "If it's a hospital that doesn't provide meal tickets, we make sure they get a meal somehow. But we always make sure that escorts are fed. If they phone us and need something, we make sure they get something."

Gulka said she was unable to disclose the amount the meal tickets were worth, but said the amount was enough to pay for a meal.

"It's definitely enough money to cover a meal," she said.

Another staff member confirmed that tickets are worth up to $12, but clients usually receive $8.

Colleen Koch-McDonald, director of retail food services at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg said the hospital has a Salisbury House restaurant attached to one of the cafeterias and gave examples of prices.

"A basic hamburger is $3.99," she said. "If you want it with fries and coleslaw it's $7.29."

She said the cafeteria also offers meals made in-house such as turkey and dressing meals, which costs $6.07 with sides of potatoes, rice and vegetables.

Annamarie Hedley, manager of health insurance programs for the Department of Health and Social Services said the responsibility of administering the per diem for each client lies with the centre.

"We pay the boarding home a per diem and that per diem is to cover three meals and obviously a bed," she said.

She said it was difficult to determine exactly how much it costs for a person to stay at the centre because of rates determined in the contract, but said the department issues an average amount of $121 per person per day.

"We round that all up and the established rate that we then bill back to Health Canada is $121 per head," she said. "That is the established rate that Health Canada will reimburse the Government of Nunavut for in Winnipeg."