U of S aims to ‘shine the light’ on Indigenous health issues
The University of Saskatchewan’s appointment of a physician dedicated to improving the health of Indigenous people across Saskatchewan will result in “transformational change” in health care, says the dean of its medical school.
“There are huge concrete goals in terms of teaching our learners, and the broader health-care community, safe cultural practices and (starting) to adapt some of the Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding health and community,” Preston Smith says.
“If we do those two things at the same time as we’re building bridges with Indigenous communities, so that we can help them do the research they want done in their communities, all of those things together are going to change health care.”
The university on Wednesday announced that Alexandra King from the Nipissing First Nation in Ontario, who came to Saskatchewan from Simon Fraser University, will serve a five-year term as its first Cameco Chair in Indigenous Health.
The position is funded by a $1.5-million donation by uranium miner Cameco Corp. in 2006. Smith said the $3 million endowment raised by the Royal University Hospital Foundation will fund the position for at least the next decade.
An internal medicine specialist concentrating on HIV and hepatitis C, King said the position will involve community-based research, the instruction of new physicians and changing how established doctors practice medicine across the province.
“I’m hoping that I can maybe be bringing people together so that we can be working together,” King told reporters after the announcement, echoing comments made by Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations vice-chief Robert Merasty.
Replacing direction from above with increased “community capacity” is vital because, for example, a teenager in Black Lake requires a different approach than someone living in another part of the province, Merasty said at the announcement.
Asked how Saskatchewan’s approach to Indigenous health compares to other provinces, she said there are challenges everywhere and conceded that it takes time for “structural” and “systemic” changes to occur.
“Definitely five years is a drop in the bucket, and I recognize that, but what I can be doing is at least starting and keeping these wheels in motion.”
Cameco president and CEO Tim Gitzel said the position will not only benefit his company — about half of the employees at its northern mines and mills are Aboriginal — but communities across the province, including his hometown of Meadow Lake.
“We can shine the light in this province on Indigenous health issues and (King) can be a real leader in bringing issues forward so that we can deal with them out in the open.
“I think that’s what we want her to do.”