Thank you, Madam Chair.
First of all, on behalf of our chief and council and our elders, home care clients, and community members, I'd like to say thank you for providing us the opportunity to do this presentation on the long-term care project that we've been working on.
I'll tell you a bit about our community. Loon River First Nation is a semi-isolated community with a population of approximately 650 people. We are located next to the hamlet of Red Earth Creek.
Loon River has a group of companies that are a separate entity comprising six companies. We are constantly moving forward toward becoming a self-sufficient nation. Loon River is part of the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council, the KTC, which comprises five member nations. Loon River is centrally located within the KTC geographic area. The distance from each of the other four nations is approximately 45 minutes.
Loon River First Nation's overall goal is to construct and operate an accredited on-reserve continuing care facility that would meet the needs of KTC first nation members and be open to other surrounding communities. This facility would allow KTC members to receive care in a location convenient to their communities and their families, with services delivered in a culturally safe and respectful manner. This would most certainly add to the quality of life for those in need of continuing care.
It has been our vision to have a facility near home for our elderly clients and other home care clients who may need this service. We believe that having such a facility in our geographic area is absolutely critical to the health and well-being of our community members who are living with disabilities or chronic illnesses at any time in their lifespan. Access to this type of facility close to home will make a different to this clientele and their families. There are a number of elders in facilities as far away as 262 kilometres, in a German Mennonite community.
The process of our long-term care project started back in 2013. There was a call-out through the health services integration fund for communities to submit an expression of interest to develop a sustainable first nations continuing care model that would ensure delivery of a seamless continuum of health care and support services. Loon River seized the opportunity and submitted a letter of interest. Our plan was to have our own long-term care facility located on reserve or nearby, which would be open to KTC member nations and to other communities outside of KTC as well.
We realized that this was a kind of over-the-top project; however, we moved forward with it and were selected as one of the communities to start exploring this possibility with the health services integration fund. Since then, numerous attempts have been made to have government on board at all levels, meaning locally, provincially, and federally. Access to government funding is needed to make this dream a reality for our KTC member nations.
A feasibility study was completed, along with a business plan. A letter was sent to the previous government's health minister, Stephen Mandel, as well as the current Minister of Health, Sarah Hoffman. We've had no responses to these letters.
We have a steering committee comprising two members of chief and council; an HR and admin staff member; one elder; two caregivers; me, the KTC director of social services; and the director of health. We were seeking the province's support and to identify at least two people who could sit on this committee to assist us with this project. This never occurred.
In terms of our current state, Loon River First Nation is unique in that we have both health and social services under one department. We provide home and community care services that include nursing care and personal care provided by a health care aide.
We also have the assisted living program services from Indigenous Services Canada. We have access to the provincial seniors special needs assistance program as needed for various expenses the elders have, including home renovations. We have also accessed the residential access modification program; if the eligibility criteria are met, this program helps people with mobility challenges to modify their homes to be more accessible. Juggling numerous programs from various department sources and strict eligibility criteria is always a challenge.
Our priority is to have a first nations-staffed facility located close to home, which is what is needed to achieve seamless health care delivery for our continuing care clients. Being placed in an unfamiliar place is very stressful on our first nations clients. Not only is there a language barrier, but cultural sensitivity is also lacking at the urban facilities. All of this is a factor in the rapid deterioration of our first nations community members once they are placed in urban long-term care or assisted living facilities.
In terms of gaps, there is a significance to family closeness in first nations people, and distance is a factor when a client is placed off reserve, as family members are not able to visit. Other gaps are wait times, funding sources, and provincial and federal jurisdiction policies with respect to a facility being situated on reserve. In addition, many years ago, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada placed a moratorium on new capital projects for continuing care. This has largely added to the ever-growing gap.
Thank you for your time. I'll pass this on to the director of health for KTC, Kirsten Sware.