P.A. Health Authority Seeks Northern Input

P.A. Health Authority Seeks Northern Input

Tuesday, December 16, 2003 at 14:27

A new advisory panel of northern residents recently met for the first time with the Prince Albert/Parkland Health Authority.

The research director for Prince Albert/Parkland, Steve Labin, says the creation of the First Nations Community Advisory Network is designed to help address health care issues facing residents in the North — many of whom are of First Nations ancestry.

Labin says that up until this point, medical policy in the region has come mostly out of urban settings without local input. As a result, Labin feels it has been fractured by a number of different mandates.

Labin says the hope of the new body is to change that trend using input from northern residents.

Labin explains the network and the health authority are scheduled to meet at least twice a year, but they will probably meet more often than that over the next 12 months in order to get everyone up to speed.