Muskeg Lake MRI plans gaining support

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Negotiations are ongoing between Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and the provincial government over plans to develop a wellness clinic on urban reserve lands, said Muskeg Lake business advisor Lester Lafond, but the First Nation is keeping it's options open.

The First Nation hopes to develop a health mall on its urban reserve in Saskatoon, which would basically provide one-stop shopping for healthcare-related services, Lafond explained.

"We have a GP (general practitioner) now, a GP sitting in our industrial park. We have dentists. So what we were talking about is having them all in one facility-optometrist, chiropractor, having a pharmacy outlet ... rehabilitation, all those aspects. And then we were also looking at a public health and education program for Saskatoon, the separate and public school systems, K to 8."

The sticking point as far as the provincial government is concerned is that the plans also call for an imaging centre where magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services, which use magnetic fields to scan the body for diagnostic purposes, would be provided. The MRI puts the wellness centre plans into a grey area, where the lines between public and private health care provision are blurred.

Despite the province's concerns, Lafond stresses that what Muskeg Lake is proposing isn't a private clinic.

"We simply want to be service providers in the health industry, no different than, say, ambulance services," Lafond said. "Thirty per cent of our health industry is provided by the public sector. But it's carefully regulated."

The First Nation has already entered into a memorandum of understanding with an international company experienced in operating and managing diagnostic centres to assist in running the proposed MRI services, Lafond said.

Muskeg Lake members are very supportive of the wellness centre plan, but they aren't the only ones, Lafond said. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations chiefs unanimously passed a motion supporting the project at their spring legislative assembly in February, and Saskatoon Mayor Donald Atchison has also come out in favour of the proposal.

The First Nation also has the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce in its corner. A motion passed at the chamber's annual general meeting held in Yorkton on April 21 and 22 calls for the provincial government to license projects such as the one being proposed by Muskeg Lake.

The motion points out that the First Nation's plans to include MRI services as part of the planned wellness centre is "in clear compliance with the Canada Health Act."

"The provincial government must license health facilities in Saskatchewan and have to date resisted consideration or approval of the Muskeg project. To delay this project or refuse licensing is also to delay a broader job base for Aboriginal people as well as delaying our ability to provide needed services for Saskatchewan people in a timely manner," the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce motion goes on to state. Currently, the wait time for an MRI in Saskatchewan is the longest in the country, with patients waiting up to two years to undergo a diagnostic scan.

A presentation about the proposed wellness clinic was made to the province on April 29, which Lafond hopes has alleviated any concerns the government might have had about the project. But while they wait for a response from the provincial government, the First Nation has also begun talks with the federal government.

"Our strategy was to try and work within the system, and the province is part of the system. We've now made overtures to the federal government that we'd like to work simply between the First Nation and the federal government," Lester Lafond said. If things can't be resolved with the province, he said, "then we're seeking a federal/First Nation relationship that would allow us to proceed without the provincial government."

If an agreement can't be worked out with the province, the result might just be exacty what the government of Saskatchewan is trying to avoid by not supporting the project, Lafond explained.

"Our initial project is to be a service provider. And if we can't get a relationship with the province, our only option left would be to look at a private clinic."