Cree, Dene Signage Planned For Health Facilities

Cree, Dene Signage Planned For Health Facilities

Friday, January 08, 2010 at 13:47

A northern health region plans to add more signs in local Aboriginal languages to its facilities.

Kathy Chisholm, CEO of the Mamawetan Churchill River Health Region, says the move — which will increase the number of signs with Cree and Dene translations — is one of several steps the region is taking in response to the province-wide Patient First Review, released late last year.

Chisholm says that while some have said the translations are unnecessary because not many visitors would be able to read the signs, she says that’s not the point.

“The point is to have it there, and if one person can read it in their first language, then that’s a good thing. And certainly at the board table we’ve talked about how it also acknowledges and respects the fact that the majority of people in this region are Aboriginal,” she says.

Chisholm notes that the health region also plans to expand its list of staff who can provide translation services for patients and their families.

The list will include not just Aboriginal languages, but in any language — from Arabic to Afrikaans — that may be called for.