Regular nursing service resumes in Pikangikum First Nation

Tim Brody - Editor

The normal compliment of nursing staff returned to Pikangikum First Nation as of the night of Saturday, April 10 according to a news release from Pikangikum First Nation.

Full-time nursing service had stopped with the removal of OPP from the Community.

According to Mathew Hoppe, Independent First Nation Alliance (IFNA) CEO, “Chief and Council met with Indigenous Services Canada Minister (Marc) Miller and key staff on Saturday afternoon. Although the overall Policing issue is still unanswered, the return of regular nursing service to the community is much appreciated news.” 

For the past three weeks, the Community and IFNA have been filling an overnight nursing void with temporary nursing support in order to keep the community safe. According to Chief Dean Owen “The community provided extraordinary security measures and personnel to the Nursing Station in order to alleviate anxiety and motivate Government to allow their Nurses to return and help resume operations as soon as possible. We are pleased with the decision to return Nursing services to Pikangikum, and we welcome the nurses back as we consider them part of our community and appreciate their role in keeping our members safe.”

Talks with government regarding the removal of Ontario Provincial Police from Pikangikum First Nation continue.