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Members of Thessalon First Nation (TFN) who rely on Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services for care will be forced to travel off reserve starting Monday.
Maamwesying will be temporarily setting up shop at 333 River Street in the Town of Thessalon, located roughly 13 kilometres west of TFN, where it will be providing primary care, dietary treatment, crisis counselling and physiotherapy.
While Maamwesying used to provide these services directly on reserve, the group suddenly switched over to virtual services on April 4, later communicating to the public that it would be moving to this temporary in-person location in Thessalon.
The Sault Star attempted to contact Maamwesying for an explanation as to why they decided to pull their services out of TFN. However, the health agency did not provide a response by Friday afternoon.
The Star managed to chat with several TFN residents, who all said they were concerned about how the relocation of local health services will impact those who don’t have the means to travel.
“Because for a lot of people who don’t drive, how are they going to get out there?” resident Jaime Lanteigne said “They’re losing the convenience of it. It’s just pure frustration.”
Another TFN resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the switch is especially stressful for members who used to rely on driving services that transported them to the on-reserve health centre for appointments.
“Whether they get that same service from the reserve to take them into town, I don’t know that for sure. Nobody will know that until it happens,” he said.
“It takes a really good thing and turns it into chaos.”
While resident Courtney Clark isn’t too worried about finding a ride, as her parents live in town, she remains disappointed with the lack of response from TFN chief and council, who haven’t publicly posted about this change in service or, according to her, provided internal correspondence to affected residents.
“There’s supposed to be a foundation of trust between the community and the leadership,” Clark said. “And there’s none right now.”
The Star also reached out to TFN chief and council for comment on Maamwesying’s decision to pull health services out of the community but did not receive a response by press time.
Maamwesying’s decision move its TFN health services off reserve comes in the wake of an alleged mass privacy breach, where a community health nurse reportedly accessed the medical records of over 20 patients without their consent.
Maamwesying chief privacy officer Michelle Brisbois told The Star back in March that this community nurse, who is an employee of TFN, repeatedly accessed patient records between October and January.
Lanteigne supplied The Star with a letter from Maamwesying, which indicates that the nurse accessed her information on Dec. 18.
Meanwhile, the anonymous male resident who recently chatted with The Star received a similar letter which states that his medical information was accessed on three separate occasions.
“Please be reassured that there is no indication your personal health information (meaning your diagnoses, test results, clinical notes, address or contact information) was shared with anyone else,” Brisbois wrote in one of the letters that was supplied to The Star.
“The community staff member has confirmed that no copies were made and that your health record was not altered or removed from the building. (The staff member) no longer has access to Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services Electronic Medical Record.”
On April 5, TFN chief and council stated in a social media post that these allegations “have not been proven” and that Maamwesying hasn’t provided them with any evidence of the employee’s wrongdoing.
“A fair and transparent investigation must first take place and its results shared with Thessalon before any action is taken,” TFN’s statement read.
Any TFN residents looking to book an appointment at Maamwesying’s new temporary location in the Town of Thessalon should call the group’s client care coordinator at 705-677-8980.
kdarbyson@postmedia.com
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