Lakeview Lodge dispute with INAC ironed out

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The Standing Buffalo Dakota First Nation had a little bit more to celebrate recently than the first anniversary of its personal care home.

In early July, the band and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada ended a long-running funding dispute over the operation of Lakeview Lodge, the first personal care home built on a Saskatchewan reserve, said Standing Buffalo Chief Mel Isnana.

This means INAC will reimburse Lakeview Lodge?s owner ? the band ? about $83,000 that had been held up in the dispute.

?We will continue to be able to operate with the amount of money needed for the care of the patients,? he said.

Until recently, the federal department ? which through treaties is responsible for funding and providing medical care for First Nations people ? believed that the band was to have been operating a special care home, instead of a personal care home.

The residents of the facility knew they were going to live in a personal care home, which doesn?t provide all the medical services of a special care home, said Isnana, but the federal department failed to recognize that.

?Being the first of its kind in the province we kind of caught them off-guard in terms of the kind of care that?s required.

?The Department of Indian Affairs said they misunderstood us. They said they were under the impression we were to establish a special care home. All along in our correspondence we told them we were going to operate a personal care home.?

A personal care home provides supervisory care ? including meeting some medical needs ? for residents. A special care home provides round-the-clock coverage for residents who are disabled, very sick or who otherwise need constant care and attention.

For First Nations such as Standing Buffalo, having a personal care home for the reserve?s elderly and sick is an important issue. The elderly on the reserves want to stay as close to their families as possible, said Isnana, and when they move off the reserve, the money the federal government provides for their care also goes off the reserve as well.

If a First Nations elderly person were required to live in a nursing home off the reserve, Indian Affairs would have little qualms about paying $4,000 to $5,000 a month to live in a long-term care home, Isnana said.

Many First Nations across the province are watching how the facility is operating, said the chief, because many are interested in also owning and operating a personal care home.

?We love our Elders. We want to see them happy,? he said, ?as they have had a long and hard life.

?In the provincial health care system, there are also long waiting lists for people to enter personal care homes,? he added. ?So there is a definite need for these facilities.?

During the anniversary ceremonies, one of the lodge?s oldest residents, Charlie Buffalo, was asked to say a few words.

?Thank you, everybody,? said the great-grandson of the chief for whom the reserve is named.

As of the facility?s first anniversary, 36 First Nations people called Lakeview lodge home. The facility has the capacity to house 40 people, said Isnana.

?By the end of the summer, I expect, it will be full.?