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Health Transfer Requirements
In 1994 Elsipogtog First Nation signed a Transfer Agreement with Health Canada. This agreement enabled our community to operate a range of health services that were once delivered by Health Canada employees.
To ensure that these services were delivered professionally, the Transfer Agreement included several requirements that have to be met by Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre. These are outlined below
- Provide Mandatory Programs
- Produce an Annual Report
- Provide an Annual Financial Audit
- Satisfy Certain Related Requirements
- Be Accountable to Community Members
- Produce a Community Health Plan
- Evaluate the Transferred Programs
- Satisfy the Goals of the HSTA
Mandatory Programs
A condition of the Transfer Agreement is that certain health programs and services must always be provided to community members. By signing the HSTA, Chief and Council have agreed that these services will be provided.
Health Canada, through Health Transfer, provides funding and other resources to deliver mandatory programs and services. The level of resourcing allows Elsipogtog to hire professional health staff to provide services that would have been delivered by Health Canada staff without Transfer
The Health and Wellness Centre must also report to the Minister of Health about mandatory health services. This reporting involves various formats and schedules, to satisfy the Federal and Provincial regulations for each program area.
The three mandatory program areas are:
- environmental/occupational health and safety
- immunizations and communicable disease control, and
- health treatment services.
These are summarized on this and the following page. Statistics and Highlights contains summary statistics for immunizations and reports on notifiable communicable diseases. More information can be obtained from the Health and Wellness Centre.
Environmental Health/ Occupational Health and Safety
Responsibilities
he Health and Wellness Centre is responsible for the inspection, testing and monitoring of the following:
- water supply and quality
- air quality (in Band buildings)
- sewage disposal
- >solid waste (garbage) disposal
- beach quality and safety
- safety of food service facilities
- physical safety of public facilities
- safety of public events, and
- housing (mold, pests, etc.).
It is also responsible for:
- developing an emergency response plan and team
- having a rapid communication protocol for environmental emergencies, and
- regular reporting of findings as required by Provincial or Federal guidelines.
Compliance
The Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre has met all of the above requirements
Additional Information (Community Health Plan)
- objectives of this program area
- types of inspection activities, frequency and schedule
- indicators of success and impact
- records to be kept
- staff persons responsible
- provisions for investigating communicable disease, and
- how the community will deal with environmental health hazards
Health Treatment Services
Responsibilities
The Health and Wellness Centre is responsible for identifying the locations, staff responsible and recordkeeping systems for the following treatment services:
- primary care treatment
- specialist referrals
- hospitalization
- rehabilitation
- institutional care, and
- home care.
It is also responsible for:
- referrals
- medical transportation
- accommodations near the referred treatment center, and
- follow-up.
When the Health and Wellness Centre provides treatment services in the community it is required to:
- have properly qualified staff
- meet facility standards, and
- adhere to professional standards and protocols
Compliance
The Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre has met all of the above requirements.>
Additional Information (CHP)
- which treatment services are provided in the community
Communicable Disease Control
Responsibilities
The Health and Wellness Centre is responsible for the following aspects of communicable disease control:
- diagnosis
- treatment
- outbreak management
- contact tracing, and
- follow-up
It also must:
- designate responsible staff
- ensure they are properly qualified and supervised
- have a rapid communication protocol with public health in the event of an outbreak
- have an agreement for services of a Medical Health Officer in the event of an outbreak, and
- produce an annual summary report of communicable disease control mechanisms.
Compliance
The Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre has met all of the above requirements.
Additional Information (CHP)
- objectives of this program area
- list of reportable diseases
- types and schedules of activities
- health care staff and responsibilities
- daily records, and
- staff positions required
Immunizations
Responsibilities
The Health and Wellness Centre is required to provide immunizations for the following:
- diphtheria
- whooping cough (pertussis)
- polio
- Haemophilus influenza ‘b’
- tetanus, and measles, mumps and German measles rubella).
It also must have a plan for using BCG vaccines in the event of cases of:
- tuberculosis
- hepatitis B, or
- haemophilus meningitis.
It also must:
- produce an annual summary report of immunizations.
Compliance
The Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre has met all of the above requirements.
Additional Information (CHP)
- immunization schedules/activities
- indicators of impact and/or success
- daily records health care staff
- staff positions required
- plan for using BCG vaccines, and
- how the community will deal with an outbreak
Finances and Related Requirements
The audited financial statements and auditors’ notes have been submitted separately to Health Canada. Anyone wishing to view these statements may do so by contacting the Director of Health at 523-8227 or by visiting the Health and Wellness Centre.
Fiscal Year 2007-08 was the fourteenth consecutive year since Health Transfer that the Health and Wellness Centre has had a balanced budget (no deficit).
The Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre is required to have its audited financial statement contain a special Auditor’s Derivative Report. This report must contain assurances that Elsipogtog First Nation:
- is providing needed, mandated and appropriate environmental health services
- is providing professional supervision and support for its Nurses, an
- has access to the services of a Medical Health Officer in the event of a community health emergency.
Compliance
The Auditor’s Derivative Report indicates that the Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre has met all of the above requirements.
Accountability
Accountability refers to the ability of the Health and Wellness Centre to be answerable to, and guided by, the people it serves. This means that the Health and Wellness Centre should be accountable to community members. It does this in the following ways:
- assessing the community’s health needs
- reporting to community members on a regular basis
- discussing current health activities with them, explaining how these tie in to long-range plans
- asking for and using their feedback, and
- providing experiences that increase the community’s knowledge and skills around dealing with health issues.
Communication plays an important role in staying accountable to community members. The Health and Wellness Centre uses several different ways of sharing important information--see the list below.
Communication |
Administrative Tools |
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- community forums and workshops
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- budget/resource management
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- Health Transfer Evaluation
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- community survey and follow-up
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- Chief and Council liaison
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Accountability can also be strengthened by using administrative tools such as policies to make sure that the staff are always aware of who they are working for community members.
Satisfying the Goals of the HSTA
The Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre has identified nine principles from the Health Services Transfer Agreement regarding what Transfer should achieve for the community. The Health and Wellness Centre has written these as goal statements to ensure that the HSTA remains a strong and relevant reference for health staff and administrators.
Key to Ratings
1 |
The Program is acting on the goal and is achieving good success. |
2 |
The Program is acting on the goal and is achieving some success |
3 |
The Program is acting on the goal and is achieving limited success |
4 |
The Program is not acting on the goal, but action will begin in 2008-09 |
5 |
The Program is not acting on the goal, but action will begin after 2008-09 |
Rating |
| 1 |
To enable the Band to satisfy four (4) principle criteria for successful program delivery: |
A |
design health programs, establish health services and allocate funds according to the Band’s health-related priorities |
1 |
B |
serve community members in a manner which is sensitive to their needs and wishes and to the nature of the Band community |
1 |
C |
ensure public health and safety is maintained by providing mandatory health programs, and |
1 |
D |
strengthen and enhance the accountability of the Band to community members |
1 |
| 2 |
To ensure that Health Transfer does not limit or detract from any Aboriginal, treaty, constitutional or other rights and freedoms of the Band |
1 |
| 3 |
To ensure that the Transfer process and the delivered programs are sensitive to Aboriginal concepts of health, allowing the freedom to adapt the services without sacrificing the quality of health care |
1 |
| 4 |
To enable the Band to evaluate the effectiveness of community health programs |
1 |
| 5 |
To ensure that information of a confidential nature is actually treated as confidential |
1 |
| 6 |
To ensure that the Band accepts responsibility and liability for negligent acts, and is insured accordingly |
1 |
| 7 |
To ensure that the Band manages Transfer resources in a responsible manner, as confirmed by an annual financial audit |
1 |
| 8 |
To ensure that advisory and consultancy services are available to the Band from FNIH if required and/or requested |
1 |
| 9 |
To ensure that negotiations for new capital and other resources can take place within the framework of the Transfer Agreement, when conditions or circumstances warrant |
1 |
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