From left to right: Pauline Frost, Chair of the Chiefs Committee on Health and Chief of Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Peter Johnston, CYFN Grand Chief, and Stephen Mills, co-chair of the Health Transformation Advisory Committee. CYFN have voiced strong support for the passing of the Health Authority Act to reform a 'fundamentally flawed' healthcare system. Photo Courtesy of Macklen Linke/CKRW.
Whitehorse, YT – Yesterday the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) passed a resolution in support of the recently tabled Health Authority Act in a bid to call attention to the significance of the legislation in reforming a healthcare system they say is fundamentally flawed.
According to the CYFN, this legislation is of the utmost importance to Yukoners and Yukon First Nations as it addresses issues related to longstanding systemic racism and the perception of a tiered system where Indigenous people may receive different levels of care depending on whether they’re accessing federal or territorial health services.
Another key issue is the fragmented nature of healthcare services in the territory. According to Pauline Frost, Chair of the Chiefs Committee on Health, the current healthcare system has people often needing to navigate through many doors before reaching the necessary services and some are being bounced around to different hospitals and cities.
“It breaks my heart that we still, in this day and age are still discharging elders who are not accustomed to traveling to large centers like Vancouver and then are released from the hospital to a care facility in another jurisdiction,” said Frost.
Through collaboration between the Yukon Government and Yukon First Nations over the past nine months a framework was developed to provide a more modern and culturally sensitive healthcare system. There was also an extensive public engagement session done by the Health Transformation Advisory Committee where over 900 interviews were conducted.
“What we heard very clearly during that time, was a system is fundamentally flawed in that it provides multiple services under various departments,” said Frost.
The CYFN stressed the future potential for this Act to help reform the healthcare system in the territory to remove barriers and ensure equitable and culturally appropriate treatment for all Yukoners, particularly Indigenous peoples. Stephen Mills, co-chair of the Health Transformation Advisory Committee, says it’s a hard time watching this act sit behind the doors of government.
“It’s a weird thing for all of us. We’re sitting on the sidelines because ultimately, the fate of this legislation rests with the individuals that sit in the Legislative Assembly,” said Mills. “We don’t have the ability to go in and voice our support and the passion that we have and the fact that we don’t want to accept ‘no’ to this legislation.”
Before the Health Authority Act goes up for voting in the Legislative Assembly the CYFN plans to keep meeting with healthcare stakeholders and organizations to stress the importance and potential of what the Act could mean. Pauline Frost also gave a message to the MLAs and particularly the opposition parties who may not offer support.
“Politics has no place to play in individual care. This is a huge opportunity for all of Yukon to participate in a system-wide change,” said Frost. “We urge the opposition members, we urge members of the Legislative Assembly to support the legislation to allow the work to begin.”
