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IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
What works and what doesn't when it comes to health care in the North was the topic of discussion during a public meeting in Cambridge Bay hosted by the Canadian Medical Association.

The association's president, Dr. John Haggie, and president-elect Dr. Anna Reid, visited the Kitikmeot community because it wants to hear about the health-care challenges faced in the North and what people think of the health-care system. Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and her territorial counterpart Keith Peterson attended the approximately three-hour public meeting on March 19.

Haggie said the concerns heard in Cambridge Bay were consistent with other public meetings held during the past year but with an Arctic and remote flavour. He added some of the concerns heard include retaining the nurses and physicians for the health centre and the lack of housing needed, for instance, to attract the staff. Others commented that travelling south for medical, sometimes as far as Edmonton can be difficult, said Haggie.

"The access issue was more related to travel, in many respects, than it was to services here. They were very complimentary about the staff they did have and the physicians they did have," he said. "We haven't had this very isolated or Arctic perspective before now, so that will help us."

Some 40 people attended the meeting, which was a "pretty good turnout," said Cambridge Bay Mayor Jeannie Ehaloak, because it was competing against bingo and a community feast to honour the community's men's hockey team, winners of the Kitikmeot Cup. She added the association asked them what was successful and what isn't when it comes to health care and what are the challenges Northerners face.

"We got some pretty good responses and pretty good comments and suggestions. I think they got a lot of information from last night's meeting," she said.

Ehaloak said one issue brought up is the inability of breastfeeding mothers to bring their babies along while traveling on medical. On the other hand, the midwifery program is successful, she added, citing a mother who was able to give birth in Cambridge Bay instead of flying to Yellowknife to have her baby.

The tour's only other Nunavut stop was scheduled for March 21 in Iqaluit.

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