The Saskatoon Health Region announced this morning it will soon be opening Aboriginal health service units at St. Paul’s and Royal University hospitals to better serve its First Nations and Métis patients.
The Aboriginal health service units will provide clinical, traditional, language and elder supports.
Saskatoon Health Region CEO Maura Davies says language barriers in particular can sometimes make it difficult for First Nation and Métis patients to access hospital services.
“A lot of the problem is related to being in a very foreign environment,” she says. “A lot of people travel into Saskatoon, they find it very confusing to find their way around and they may not know where to stay. And for some of our patients, English is not their first language. So, for them in particular, coming into Saskatoon is very stressful. So I think in particular the language barrier is a big issue.”
The health region says it will hire five employees as part of the unit at St. Paul’s in March and the total cost of the program will be about $600,000.