March 28, 2008

THUNDER BAY - Ontario has given the official go ahead to Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre (SLMHC) to move its new hospital construction project forward. Calls for construction contract bids will soon get underway.

The new 140,000 square foot state-of the-art health centre will increase access to health care for all residents in Sioux Lookout and its surrounding communities, including 28 First Nations communities. The new building will replace hospital facilities that are more than 50 years old. The project is a result of a Four Party Agreement between the First Nations, federal, provincial and municipal governments.

Designated by the province as a First Nations’ Centre of Health Excellence, the hospital will continue its leadership role in developing and delivering culturally sensitive health care in Northwestern Ontario, including relevant services, such as around-the-clock translation services and a traditional healing, medicines and foods program.

Expected to open in 2010, the health centre will house existing hospital, mental health and addiction, as well as other health services. New services are expected to include :

• a five bed withdrawal management unit
• a dedicated palliative care area
• an expanded chronic kidney disease program with two additional dialysis stations
• screening and diagnostic mammography

“The construction of the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre is an essential step in the delivery of accessible and culturally appropriate health care to the First Nations’ communities in Northwestern Ontario,” said George Smitherman, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. “Residents of Sioux Lookout and the surrounding communities will benefit from improved access to quality health care in a state-of-the-art facility.”

“This facility is great news for people in remote communities in Northwestern Ontario,” said Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Michael Bryant. "The Meno Ya Win Health Centre is proof of the McGuinty government’s commitment to Ontario’s First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities, as well as the importance of our Northern partners.”

“Much work has been done by many people to secure a facility that can serve and meet the health needs of people in the Sioux Lookout area,” said Frank Beardy, Co-Chair of the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre Board of Directors. “The commitment today by the Ontario government is a major milestone in achieving the dreams and hopes of many people.”

• There are 28 First Nations communities in the Sioux Lookout zone of Northern Ontario, which acts as a centre for health services, including hospital care, for most of these First Nations communities.
• The majority of these communities are accessibly by air only making it difficult for them to obtain access to a wide range of health services.

Learn more about the new hospital by visiting SLMHC.

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