Patients complain of poor conditions at Inuvik, N.W.T., boarding home

Some patients who have used the transient health centre in Inuvik, N.W.T., say they have been dealing with sub-par accommodations for years. 

"There's a really big difference between the boarding homes in Yellowknife and Edmonton compared to Inuvik, in terms of quality of the service they provide and… the quality of food that is provided," said Laverna Klengenberg from Ulukhaktok, N.W.T.

The transient health centre in Inuvik occupies the second floor of the Inuvik Regional Hospital, and serves as a boarding home in the community. For patients in the Beaufort Delta, staying there is often the only option if they need medical care.

Klengenberg says one the biggest problems at the transient centre is with the food. She says that meals at the facility don't have a lot of variety, and aren't prepared with care.

She says another issue is that there is no food or snacks available for people who need to miss meals because of medical appointments or late flights. 

"They're there for health reasons. I mean, providing food and snacks for the evening should be a priority, good quality food, not just the bare, bare minimum," she said. 

Klengenberg says that many people are forced to buy their own food because of these issues.

"A lot of the people who do go [to Inuvik] are just barely making it by. Here in our community and when they have to go out of town for any reason, they need some extra spending money… just because they know they have to buy food." 

Klengenberg also said there were other issues, such as thin blankets that didn't keep her warm at night in the winter, and no towels provided in the rooms.

'Zero stars'

Stephanie Koadloak was last at the transient health centre in January. When she got to the airport, she needed to wait about an hour for a taxi to come and transport her to the centre. 

She says that when she was assigned a room, she found moldy fruit under her bed, and the sheets hadn't been changed since the last patient left. 

But that wasn't where the problems ended. 

Koadloak says there was no water dispenser in the transient health centre, so she was forced to go downstairs to the cafeteria by herself on her crutches anytime she wanted a glass of water. 

She said that dealing with these problems when she was injured was hard.

"I feel like the service that we get at the transient is like, zero stars," she said.

"I don't want to be there, ever, but we don't have a choice…. can we just get some change please?"

Hope for improvement

Jackie Jacobson is the MLA for Nunakput. He says the problems with medical travel are having a big impact on people in his riding.

"All communities have been affected in regards to the food situation and the accommodation in one way or another. Everybody's travelling in there," he said. 

At one point about three months ago, Jacobson was getting more than one call each day about the transient centre, mostly from patients who missed dinner there due to late flights and couldn't find anything to eat.

"More than a few times, I'm calling The Roost [restaurant] up in Inuvik and ordering food for people," he said. 

"I feel for people because they're under a lot of stress already… they shouldn't be worrying about a place to stay and food."

He said that since getting these complaints, he has passed them on to the territory's health minister, and officials at the Inuvik hospital. 

Jacobson said he hasn't gotten any new complaints this past month, and he is very hopeful that the situation is improving.

Roger Israel, chief operating officer for the Northwest Territories health authority in the Beaufort Delta, said that since he started the job in February, he believes there are snacks available in the fridge and rooms are being cleaned. 

He said he has been checking on the transient centre regularly, and that in the future either he or another senior official with the health authority will be checking it weekly.

He also encouraged people to come forward if they have complaints.

"Our goal here is to make sure that people are comfortable and we're providing a good service," he said.