Meno Ya Win opens new facility

The Municipality of Sioux Lookout and First Nations in the area had much to celebrate Nov. 7 when the doors to the new Meno Ya Win Health Centre officially opened.
It was a day decades in the making.
The state-of-the art facility, with a price tag of $106 million, is a blend of old and new, a merging of modern technology with traditional First Nation principles.
It’s a concept Frank Beardy, co-chair of the Meno Ya Win board, said was needed to make patients feel as comfortable as possible when seeking treatment. Because 80 per cent of patients served by Meno Ya Win are Aboriginal, it was important to include First Nation concepts of health, healing and wellness to provide culturally-sensitive health care.
“The holistic nature of how we look at our health has to be a part of the healing process,” Beardy said.
The new hospital will serve traditional foods such as moose, thanks to a change in legislation, and will also have a space set aside for ceremonial healing practices and medicine.
The completed hospital is the result of four levels of government coming together to make it happen, Beardy said. It was a long process and one First Nations resisted at first.
During the 1980s and 1990s, when the idea of amalgamating the federal Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital with the provincial Sioux Lookout General Hospital was being discussed, First Nations weren’t keen on the concept. Beardy said First Nations wanted to maintain its relationship with the federal government. First Nation jurisdiction falls into the hands of the federal government and includes such responsibilities as housing, education and health. He said by entering into an agreement with the province, First Nations felt it would water down their relationship with the federal government.
But, it was the vision of the Elders and First Nation leaders to have quality health care for First Nation people in the area.
After much debate, First Nations agreed to amalgamate and proceed with one new hospital. In 1997, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Sioux Lookout, the Ontario government and the federal government signed the Four Party Agreement.
That agreement set the stage for amalgamation in 2002 and for securing funds to build the new hospital. Both the federal and provincial governments committed funds for construction, which was completed in October.
“The hopes and dreams of many years have finally become a reality,” said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy in a press release announcing the opening. “All people of Sioux Lookout, and our northern communities, will benefit from this new centre.”