Mold has permeated the main health-care center on Six Nations of the Grand River to the point that a new building is needed.
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Elected council announced the abrupt closure of the Gané Yohs Community Health Center in Ohsweken in late April, citing health and safety concerns due to the discovery of mold affecting air quality inside the building.
Laboratory services immediately shifted to White Pines Wellness Center — located two buildings away from Gané Yohs on Chiefswood Road — with the Ohsweken Medical Centre, Ohsweken Public Health, an internal medicine rapid access clinic and the reserve’s sexual health clinic following in early May.
At the Aug. 19 finance meeting, elected council voted to spend just under $334,000 on a 48-foot dental trailer as a temporary site for dental services that have been unavailable since the closure.
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The trailer, expected to arrive sometime next month, “is seen as a community investment that can in the future continue to be used for outreach and mobile dental services in the community,” CEO Nathan Wright told advisors.
Meanwhile, council spent $8,400 to assess the state of the Gané Yohs building, ultimately determining remediation is impossible and a replacement is needed.
Wright confirmed Indigenous Services Canada has agreed to pay for the new health center, which he told council will likely be two to three stores to accommodate all needed services.
“Now we’re in that design phase,” Wright said, adding public consultation will be included in the design process.
“We have to look long-term,” he said.
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Wright said he will meet with the assistant deputy ministers of Indigenous Services this month to secure funding for modular buildings to relocate the services currently at White Pines “into their own space for the time being … so there is adequate space.”
Those services include immunizations and disease management, neonatal checkups and community education sessions.
The White Pines building itself needs work, with the elevator undergoing repairs that will limit access as of October.
At last week’s meeting, Coun. Helen Miller lamented the disruption to residents and staff caused by the ongoing closure of the health center.
“This is totally unacceptable, what’s happening with Gané Yohs,” Miller said.
“And I think we need to go to Ottawa and start raising some Cain, because this is impacting our community, big time.”
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Miller said she has fielded calls from band members complaining about having to get blood work done at the cramped family health team office inside White Pines.
“We need to get political on this. We need the chief to start setting up meetings and say, ‘What’s going on here?’” Miller said.
Wright said those efforts are already underway at the ministerial level, with Ottawa having taken responsibility for the building and pledged to help.
“The chief has been meeting and raising this at every opportunity,” he said.
Wright was not available for an interview for this story.
In the July 19 edition of her weekly radio address, Elected Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill said she had a virtual meeting with Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu on June 25 “to discuss the closure, mold infestation, and critical need for restoration at the Gané Yohs building.”
“The call was generally positive, with Minister Hajdu and her officials expressing concern and committing to work with Six Nations to address the issue,” Hill said, adding the minister “acknowledged the building’s importance” to the community.
JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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