Indigenous Care Coordinators

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC), Anishnawbe Mushkiki, and Grand Council Treaty #3 partnered to hire Indigenous Care Coordinators to help Indigenous Peoples navigate the health care system and transition back to their home communities by working with local community supports. The Indigenous Care Coordinator is responsible for providing a range of health and mental health navigation, advocacy, discharge planning and supports services to Indigenous Peoples accessing health and mental health services while being an inpatient at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

Indigenous Care Coordinators services patients who are admitted into the Hospital and Emergency Department but may visit other areas within the Hospital upon request.

The Indigenous Care Coordinator will work as a liaison between the TBRHSC and local community organizations in order to meet the needs of Indigenous patients through the provision of Patient and Family Centred Care.

The Indigenous Care Coordinator provides a number of services for Indigenous inpatients, including:

• Connecting to translation and interpretation services in Ojibwe, Cree, and Oji-Cree
• Supporting inpatients during their stay at TBRHSC
• Liaising and advocating for patients and their families with their health care team
• Providing information and education in a culturally sensitive way
• Providing a connection with Non-Insured Health Benefits, access to iPad and book lending libraries, link patients to traditional care practitioners, and act as liaisons with the Compliments & Concerns process
• Supporting discharge planning with physician/health care practitioner through an interdisciplinary team approach
• Linking patients and families to helpful community resources, processing referrals, and providing clear and accurate information on available community-based services to support patients upon discharge
• Working closely with our team of Indigenous Patient Navigators