Health programs for B.C. First Nations transfered to First Nations Health Authority

GRAND CHIEF DOUG KELLY,  chair of the First Nations Health Council, was joined Oct. 21 by Rona Ambrose, federal Minister of Health, and B.C. Minister of Health Terry Lake, to celebrate the historic transfer of all health programs and services for B.C. First Nations previously administered by Health Canada to the new First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). “Now is the time for B.C. First Nations to take our rightful place, determining our own health outcomes and what wellness means to us,” said Kelly. This transfer of services has been several years in the making and was outlined in a number of guiding documents and agreements including the 2011 British Columbia Tripartite Framework Agreement on First Nation Health Governance. The Framework Agreement paved the way for the federal government to transfer the planning, design, management, and delivery of First Nations health programs to the new FNHA. The new approach enables the FNHA to incorporate First Nations’ cultural knowledge, beliefs, values, and models of healing into the design and delivery of health programs that better meet the needs of First Nations communities. “We have achieved a historic milestone,” said British Columbia Health Minister Terry Lake. “We are empowering First Nations all across the province with the goal of improving the health status of all British Columbians. This is a first in Canada and a made-in-B.C. program of which we can all be proud.”