Native Montreal executive director Philippe Meilleur (right), Ian Lafrenière, minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit, and Christian Dubé, Quebec's health minister, attend the opening event for a new health clinic designed to serve the Indigenous in Montreal.
MONTREAL, Que.-Montreal's regional health authority has partnered with Native Montreal, a friendship center, to create a new health clinic that will provide culturally safe care for Indigenous families living in the city.
The clinic is starting small with a doctor available twice a week and two nurses on site, offering a range of front-line services from two exam rooms and three multi-pupose rooms.
While the clinic has served around 100 people since the clinic started seeing patients in October, it officially opened in April, with ceremonies attended by provincial ministers.
"We can't work in silos. We need to work together, and this is a strong message," said Ian Lafrenière, minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit, during the event.
The clinic is modelled after the Minowé clinic, an integrated health centre that's a partnership between the Native Friendship Centre in Val d'Or and the public health authority of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region that has been replicated in urban settings across Quebec.
Native Montreal started its family clinic project in 2021. It is funded through the Quebec government's I Have Hope initiative, which includes measures to support health and wellness projects in friendship centres based on the model developed in Val d'Or.
"I am very pleased with the inauguration of this clinic, which reflects our government's commitment to continuing its efforts to improve front-line care and culturally adapted service for Native citizens in urban areas, taking into account their specific needs," said Christian Dubé, Quebec's health minister.
