First Nations health authority to launch in Manitoba this year: Southern Chiefs' Organization

Three years after taking the first steps towardtransforminghealth care delivery for the people it represents,the Southern Chiefs' Organization is on the verge of establishing its own health authority in Manitoba.

In a joint news release on Friday, the SCO, along with the provincial and federal governments,announcedManitoba has committed to developing an agreement-in-principle to formalizethe commitment of all three parties to a working relationship.

In a Friday news release, SCO Grand Chief called the agreement historic, saying it is thenext step in closing the 11-year gap in life expectancybetween First Nations people and other Manitobans.

The tripartite table, led by the Southern Chiefs' Organization,will result in the formation of a "holistic, trauma-informed Anishinaabe and Dakota health-care system," the release said.

Culturally competent primary care, improved access to mental health services, enhanced services for grandmothers and grandfathers, access to traditional healing methods, and local community access to health care have all been identified as priorities.

No dates were provided as to when the agreement-in-principal will be completed or when the new health authority might launch.

Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon called the initiative a"monumental task," but said in the release the provinceis pleasedto work with the SCO and the federal government on establishing a health-care modelfocused on Indigenous-led and community-based health care.

The Southern Chiefs' Organization, whichrepresents 34 FirstNations and more than 81,500 people in southern Manitoba, said theCOVID-19 pandemic, whichdisproportionately impacted First Nations, showed how well the organization can represent the health of its people.

Daniels said throughout the pandemic, the SCO responded to longstanding inequality in health care through advocacy, partnership and leading the delivery of services.

That included co-ordinatingvaccine and rapid antigen test rollout, and funding for personal protective equipment, Friday's news release said.

In 2019, the SCO chiefs-in-summit passed a resolution supporting the health transformation process, called Exercising our Treaty and Inherent Right to Health.

In June 2020, the organization signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal governmentto work together to transform the health-care system for southern First Nations.

That was followed by an SCO resolution passed in 2021to support a transformation action plan to fulfil First Nation priorities for an agreement-in-principle.

First Nations leadership in health-care delivery leads to improved outcomes, federalIndigenous Services MinisterPatty Hajdu said in the release.

The new agreement is a step toward improving health care access for Indigenous people, she said.