THUNDER BAY - Travelling hundreds of kilometres from a remote community to a large urban medical centre can be a stressful and fearful experience and the return home can be as equally difficult without knowing what supports and care opportunities are available.
Joelle Mandamin, the first Indigenous care coordinator at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, is hoping her new role will help Indigenous people better navigate the health care system and more easily transition back to their home communities.
“I’m really excited about this role and humbled to help Indigenous patients as they come into hospital with support and navigation about the system if they have fears, worries, or questions about plans of care,” she said.
“Given my background in nursing, I am able to help them not only in the hospital but that transition back into their community.”
Mandamin’s position was created through a partnership between the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Grand Council Treaty No. 3. Mandamin, who is originally from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation and graduated from the Lakehead University nursing program in 2020, will be providing services including patient navigation, advocacy, discharge planning, and support services to Indigenous people primarily from Grand Council Treaty No. 3 communities.
“I have had a couple encounters with being in the hospital and how foreign that can be and scary,” Mandamin said.
“In Kenora, it’s a small area so sometimes if it’s more acute, they have to come to Thunder Bay for care. That can be nerve racking, especially if you’ve never been here before. I feel like being in this role now I can provide that support, advocacy, navigation, and help them plan their navigation back home with what’s available in their community.”
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre president and CEO, Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, said Mandamin’s new role will help improve the overall care experience for Indigenous people at the hospital.
“We recognize that through our strategic planning that this is one of our key areas that we want to move forward and we recognize as well through the Truth and Reconciliation report that we need to do more to improve the respectful relationship we have with Indigenous people,” she said.
“This is an opportunity for us to partner with communities within Northwestern Ontario to ensure when people come to access care at Thunder Bay regional we have improved navigation, improved welcoming environment, we have the improvement in how they receive care and how they can transition and be supported when they return to their home community.”
Crocker Ellacott said she recognizes that Indigenous people in the city and across the country have had negative experiences with medical care and are fearful when having to travel away from their home communities.
“We know we need to grow this and we know we need to do better from a cultural safe and sensitive approach within our organization as well,” she said.
The hospital already has several Indigenous navigators on staff to assist patients accessing care, but this is the first time someone has been in a position to assist specific communities.
Mandamin has been in the position since June and she feels like she has already been able to provide a lot of support to those seeking medical care and she is hopeful that as more awareness is created regarding these services, more people will be less hesitant to seek care from remote communities.
“People sometimes don’t know what questions to ask,” she said. “Sometimes they feel too scared or worried to voice their concerns to the doctors or nurses, so I’ve been there to be that voice for them when they were maybe too shy or scared to do so themselves.”
“I really believe that as we continue to promote this service that people will know about it and feel that they can access it and feel they are supported while in hospital.”
Crocker Ellacott said the hospital is continuing to work on future collaborations with other Indigenous territories in the hopes of adding more Indigenous care coordinators.
“We are taking the right steps in the right direction to help bridge those gaps,” Mandamin said. “I can see it only continuing from here to provide extra supports for people in hospital, not only here but in surrounding communities. I think it’s just going to go forward from here.”
