August 31st, 2022

Ford must recruit northern nurses as Kashechewan faces crisis: Bourgouin

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP MPP Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk—James Bay), said Doug Ford must hire thousands more nurses in northern Ontario — including in the community of Kashechewan First Nation, which is facing a dire shortage of health care staff.

For weeks, the nursing station at Kashechewan First Nation has been operating with a skeleton crew of just two primary care nurses.

“The nursing station in Kashechewan is this community’s lifeline,” said Bourgouin. “Two nurses responsible for the care of an entire community means the health and well-being of residents is at serious risk.

“These two nurses are stretched so thin they can only provide emergency services, and no other medical facilities are in close range.”

Bourgouin said the Ford government must treat the health care crisis with the urgency it demands and work with the First Nations Inuit Health Branch and Indigenous Services Canada to get more nurses hired in northern Ontario generally — and specifically in Kashechewan.