Aboriginal groups join forces to create Native healing centre

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Representatives from the Indian, Metis and Inuit communities have joined forces in planning a friendly takeover of the Charles Campsell Hospital.

The groups want to transform the facility, due to close its door to the public this December, into a Native-run health care centre. This a centre would combine traditional healing methods and conventional medicine under one roof.

But the cost of the project may be the group's undoing. Besides planning and programming, governance and financing of this health care dream, the first and most important consideration of the project is funding.

It will take a staggering amount of money to get the Native health care centre up and running, said Doris Ronnenberg, president of the Alberta chapter of the Native Council of Canada.

The lights, water and heat will cost a minimum of $700,000 per year, she said.

A minimal custodial staff will require another $1.5 million. All this before a single dime is spent on healing.

Ronnenberg said existing money, that which is already being spent on health care for Native people in the province, could find its way to the operation. But neither the province or federal governments have committed dollars to the project.

Other monies could come from small businesses that would occupy some of the facility's space. Ronnenberg said a pharmacy, bookstore and cafeteria which serves Aboriginal foods would contribute to the costs of running the centre.

Speculation aside, a proposal will have to come together for submission to the hospital administrators and the regional health authority for consideration within the coming months.

The steering committee established to develop the proposal will have to get " on the ball" to meet the looming deadline of late fall, said Ronnenberg. Otherwise, the administrators of the hospital will be looking at other proposals from other groups for the facility.

The Native health care centre would require that conventional doctors work side-by-side with Native medicine people to achieve a more holistic approach to healing, said Ronnenberg. This will be new to most medical practitioners who, as a majority, have yet to accept the value of traditional Native healing.