Killing of Kuujjuaq lab technician leads to problems hiring, keeping staff

The Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services has had trouble recruiting and retaining personnel since thehomicide of a Kuujjuaq lab technician months ago.

Chlo Labrie, 28, originally from Victoriaville, died in her home from a gunshot wound June 12.

Randy Koneak, 20, faces a charge of first-degree murder and is being held in detention pending his trial.

In an interview withCBC,Jean-tienne Bgin, director of human resources at the board, called Labrie's death "a tragic event."

"This is an isolated event," he said. "This has never happened before.

"Tragic events happen everywhere in Quebec."

And the weeks and months after the incident have been hard for her colleagues as well 20 people who work in the region left their jobs in the month following Labrie's death, though none of those people worked with her.

The Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, serving 14 mostly Inuit communitiesalong the coasts of Ungava Bay and Hudson Bay, manages a staff of about 400.

The board operates theInuulitsivikHealth Centre, covering the Hudson Bay region, and UngavaTutattavikHealth Centre, for Ungava Bay communities. Labrie worked for the latter institution.

About 75 per cent of the staff come from the south, Bgin said. The health board has an average staff turnover of 24 months, which means there is asteady flow of health care employees in and out of the region.

But losing20 in one shot is a big blow, Bgin said.

The reduced staff means an outpatient clinicthat was open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.now closes at 5 p.m., he explained.But emergency services remain available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Improving fortunes

Bgin said in the wake of the homicide, people who had accepted positions with the boardchanged their minds.

Two months later, there arestill recruitment challenges, but the number of job openings has been steadily declining and is returning to normal.

As of Tuesday morning, there are 40 positions posted on the regional recruitmentfor nursing positions, physiotherapy positions,he said.

"Of course the number of open positions is certainly a little higher than usual," Bgin said.

"But for the health professionals listening, these positions are extremely interesting challenges with a lot of professional autonomy, the opportunity to live with Inuit and learn a new culture."

The working environment is a "family team spirit," he said, and there are perks to working in the remote locations.

The employees are paid the same salaries as elsewhere in Quebec's health network, but their transport in and out is paid, as are travel costs for four trips a year out of the region for those without dependents and three trips a year for those with dependents.

With files from CBC Quebec's Breakaway