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James Kakepetum (Keewaywin Health Director), Orpah McKenzie (KO Health Director), John Rowlandson (KO Telehealth Project Manager) and Dr. Ed Brown (NORTH Network Director) traveled to Ottawa to meet with Health Canada officials o­n Wednesday Dec 11. Representatives from Health Canada included Al Garman (Ontario Regional Director, FNIHS), James Adams (Western Zone Director, FNIHS) and Ernie Dal Grande (FNHIS, Manager).

This meeting was the first opportunity for Mr. Garman to meet with Keewaytinook Okimakanak about the different health services initiatives being worked o­n by the team, in particular the Telehealth project. The information and final report from the Zone Telehealth Workshop was shared and discussed. The KO team provided the group with a powerpoint presentation detailing the work completed to date and the program needs to ensure its sustainability. Everyone was very helpful and supportive in identifying the best approach to ensure the o­ngoing operation of the KO Telehealth service.

James volunteered that Keewaywin be part of the FNHIS (health information system) version 2 pilot initiative. This will mean that they will be integrated as a network service demonstrating multiple health applications over their single community network.

The team also had a marvelous (and totally spontaneous) meeting with Minister Nault in the lobby of the Confederation building. Afterwards they were able to have a focused 40 minutes with Patti Skillen at the Minister's Office in Hull talking about funding options for the telehealth project and what INAC can do (capital, CTC wages) to support this development in the First Nations. Also discussed were other cross-over issues such as telehealth support for special needs, special education and Head Start (early child development).

A meeting with the National Nursing Association also proved to be a value opportunity to share information and obtain their support for the work being done by the KO Health Services team.

Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Health team hosted a very successful regional Telehealth Workshop o­n October 22 and 23, 2002 in Sioux Lookout. The workshop included demonstrations and strategic plannning sessions for telehealth services in all the Sioux Lookout Health Zone First Nations. All the presentations and documentation for this gathering is available at http://telehealth.knet.ca/October_Workshop

You can download the final version of the KO Telehealth Workshop Report at:
http://knet.ca/documents/Final-Workshop-Report-Dec-02.pdf

A curriculum development meeting for the new Northern Medical School is taking place in Sault Ste. Marie o­n January 16-18. It is limited to 200 participants, who will be compensated for travel and accommodation.

You do not need to be a doctor, nurse or other health care professional to attend this meeting. Any o­ne with an interest in improving the quality of health care in the North can attend. We need to be well represented at this meeting. We need representatives from the leadership and Elders, educators, health care people and telecommunications specialists.

It is critical that Nishnawbe Aski Nation, the Tribal Councils and our various agencies be well represented at this meeting. We should not accept the principle that o­ne person can represent all of the NAN territory.

To prevent this, NAN, the Tribal Councils and our various agencies should write a o­ne or two page letter to the dean of the new medical school. It should contain three key pieces of information:

1. Reminder that the NAN BCR supporting the Northern o­ntario Medical School was conditional o­n NAN participation in the Governance, Development of Curriculum and a number of seats set aside for NAN Students.
2. Nishnawbe Aski Nation and the Tribal Councils played a major role in the lobbying effort to get the o­ntario Government to change its mind and make Lakehead University a full and equal campus to serve the Northwest.
3. The contribution that you and your organization can make in the development of curriculum.

The letter should be addressed to:

Dr. Roger Strasser
Founding Dean of Medicine
Northern o­ntario Medical School
955 Oliver Road
Thunder Bay, o­ntario
P7B5E1

VIA FAX: 346-7944

CC: Dorothy Wright, Project Development Officer, Lakehead Campus
Ann Moro, Project Coordinator, Laurentian Campus

On Tuesday, November 19, four Health Canada officials (Roy Hart, Regional Director for IT, Lynn Baxter, Program Manager, Alvin Crane and Rick Frie, Sioux Lookout Zone IT Technicians) chartered a flight to Poplar Hill First Nation to learn first hand about the KO Telehealth Initiative and about the Kuh-ke-nah Broadband Network. John Rowlandson, KO’s Telehealth Project Manager and Brian Beaton, K-Net Coordinator also traveled to Poplar Hill to meet with the Chief and Council, local staff and the Health Canada officials. Check out the pictures from the meeting at the Poplar Hill e-Centre.

While waiting for the weather to clear, Roy, Alvin, Rick and Brian met at the Zone Administration Building to discuss the Kuh-ke-nah Network. The material distributed  (PDF document, 455KB) for this meeting provided an orientation about the work that has taken place to bring broadband connectivity to the First Nations across the region. Now the challenge is to find ways to ensure that all organizations and o­n-line applications are developing strategies to ensure they are utilizing the community network so this resource is sustainable and available for all community members.

While in Poplar Hill, everyone was given a tour of the Poplar Hill Nursing Station and had a chance to discuss with Cora Hunse and Barbara Strang, the importance of this connectivity for their work. John Rowlandson provided a tour of the telehealth room and a demonstration of the connections and the telehealth resources available in Poplar Hill. Then everyone went over to the local e-Centre to meet with the Chief and Council. John provided everyone with a powerpoint presentation (PDF document, 553KB) outlining the work that is taking place to ensure these services are continued to be supported by Health Canada and the First Nations across the region.

NORTH Network staff, partners and many of their consultants gathered at the Nottawasaga Inn outside of Toronto o­n the weekend of October 19 to engage in some strategic planning efforts. John Rowlandson, KO's Telehealth Project Manager, provided participants with a orientation about developing and delivering telehealth services in remote communities. Other workshop participants from Northern o­ntario worked hard to help ensure northern health care needs and priorities are being addressed using these new telehealth tools. As always, the biggest challenge facing everyone is communications both within the team and outside the team to other groups, community members, agencies and government. Check out some of the workshop pictures at http://photos.knet.ca/NORTH-planning.

A Social Task Force was organized in Cat Lake First Nation to deal with the social issues that we as a community have been experiencing . The continued increase of family violence issues, alcohol and substance abuse and the rise of solvent abuse related issues resulted in the community leadership and it's frontline workers to review and evaluate the programs and services presently being provided .

The Social Task Force is comprised of the Chief and Council, all department Directors, key board members, some frontline staff, youths and elders. The group met to discuss all the issues involved and to develop a plan o­n how to address these issues being experienced by the community membership.

There were a series of planning meetings where youth, the general public, and other agencies involved with Cat Lake First Nation had the opportunity to share their ideas. The findings and plan of action for the Social Task Force was presented to the community for their feedback.

One recommendation that was a result of the Social Task Force meetings and planning session is the development of the Social Development Unit. The unit has two components addressing specific areas identified. The first priority area is to develop a research project to address residential school issues. The second target area is Community Development opportunities. The staff involved in each of these areas worked together to review identified issues and design a workable long term solution to address these issues.

As a result, our Health Authority is currently undergoing changes. A three year funding proposal was submitted to Aborignal Healing Foundation. A new facility is currently being built to accommodate Cat Lake First Nation's Health Authority and it's various Social Programs. In the future a Social Program Coordinator will be hired to head the facility.

The Canadian Society of Telehealth annual conference included two different sessions featuring the work of Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Health Team. This year's conference was held in Vancouver, BC o­n October 3 to 5 and featured guests from across the country.

Orpah McKenzie, KO's Health Director worked with Drs. Fran Edye, C Keresztes and Claudette Chase to share their experience in the presentation entitled "ISOLATION AND ACCESS: EVALUATING A FIRST NATIONS TELEPSYCHIATRY PILOT PROJECT IN REMOTE OJIBWAY AND OJI-CREE COMMUNITIES"(in PDF format). Donna Williams, KO's Telehealth Educator worked with several KO First Nation Telehealth Coordinators to present their experience of delivering "

THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS FOR COMMUNITY TELEHEALTH COORDINATORS IN FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITIES".

Keewaytinook Okimakanak was well represented at this year's CST conference with First Nation Health Directors and Telehealth Coordinators joining KO's Telehealth Team in Vancouver. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity sharing their experiences with others and learning about new telehealth opportunities.

KO Telehealth is launched during Keewaytinook Okimakanak's 10th Anniversary Celebration in Balmertown on August 22. Geordi Kakepetum, KO’s Executive Director, welcomed everyone to the 10th Anniversary celebration and launch. He related how our telehealth initiative began about four years ago. Our Keewaytinook Okimakanak Chiefs were watching a videoconference between a physician at the Ottawa Heart Institute and a patient in the Northwest Territories. Since then telehealth has been part of the KO wellness strategy. Orpah McKenzie, Director of KO Health Services, acknowledged Keewaytinook Okimakanak’s Health Services work with health partners including the NORTH Network, Industry Canada/FedNor, CHIPP, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, the Red Lake Margaret Cochenour Memorial Hospital, the Zone Hospital and others to create telehealth and keep it running. Orpah then introduced the telehealth coordinators in each of our KO communities: Lily Sawanas in Deer Lake, Jessie Mathews in Fort Severn, Mary Kakekagumick in Keewaywin, Julie Meekis in North Spirit, and Rita Wassaykeesic in Poplar Hill. Orpah introduced the KO Telehealth Project team of Dr. Aaron Feldstein, Dr. Claudette Chase and Dr. Mark Polle, the KO Telehealth’s Regional Medical Directors, John Rowlandson (Project Manager), Christine Penner Polle (Regional Coordinator), Donna Williams (Informatics Educator), and Gibbet Stevens (Communications Coordinator). This was followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony to launch our telehealth project. Carl Seibel from FedNor assisted Orpah McKenzie and Geordi Kakepetum in cutting the ribbon. A presentation, gift and award ceremony was made via videoconferencing to Starsky Suggashie at the Keewaywin E-Centre for being the first “telehealth consult.” James Kakapetum, Health Director for Keewaywin, accepted the award on Starsky’s behalf. Donna Williams, KO Telehealth’s educator/trainer then connected with coordinator, Julie Meekis in North Spirit Lake by videoconference. Along with Julie’s grandson, Samuel and Laurie Rae, the Prenatal Nutrition worker, they helped to demonstrate some of the telehealth equipment for the audience. Julie used the exam camera to check Samuel’s feeding and breathing tubes and then used the otoscope to look inside Laurie’s ear. It was a very successful launch and for everyone who made it possible – THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS! See the first photo album of the launch and also in the second photo album

Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth was in Sandy Lake on Monday August 19th and Tuesday August 20th to talk about the KO Telehealth Initiative . Sandy Lake First Nation, Health Director, John McKay, invited KO Telehealth so that people in his community could learn more about telemedicine services. On Monday evening, KO Telehealth Project Manager, John Rowlandson, lead a discussion about telehealth services with resident and visiting clinical staff. On Tuesday morning, Rowlandson, presented to Elders and the Sandy Lake Band Council. Nurses and physicians who attended Monday night were enthusiastic about the ways that telemedicine could be used in a remote First Nation like Sandy Lake. They were interested to hear about how it was working in other KO communities and what was involved in delivering and supporting telemedicine services. Similarly, Elders and Council members said they enjoyed the presentation and that they had a better idea about what telehealth is and how it might work in Sandy Lake. Broadband services -- such as high speed internet and videoconferencing are now being implemented throughout the community.

Please come and join the KO Telehealth Team in celebrating our telehealth launch in Balmertown as part of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tenth Anniversary celebration! We will be formally introducing telehealth - a new way of delivering health care in the KO Region. Present will be people in this region who are working to bring this new health service to the North. Festivities will include a cake cutting ceremony and demonstrations of the new telehealth equipment. Hope to see you there! To see the official invitation to all interested groups and individuals CLICK HERE. To find out more about the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Telehealth Initiative, CLICK HERE.