Administration

In the spring of 2004 Health Canada announced a new approach to the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program’s Consent Initiative. The new approach means that the March 1, 2004, deadline for the submission of consent forms by NIHB First Nations and Inuit clients no longer applies.

Health Canada consulted widely with First Nations, Inuit and other stakeholders and appreciates the extensive input and advice received.

Under this new approach, the NIHB Program will not require a signed consent form for day-to-day processing activities and program administration. NIHB clients will therefore continue to receive benefits for which they are eligible even if they have not signed a consent form.

Several factors have made this new approach possible. These include an evolving privacy environment, feedback from First Nations, Inuit and other stakeholders, and insights gained during the past three years. This approach respects the privacy rights of clients and is consistent with current privacy legislation.

In a few instances, where client safety or inappropriate use of the system may be a concern, the NIHB Program will seek the express consent of clients to share their personal information with health care providers. This consent may be provided verbally or in writing. In a few cases, NIHB may refuse to pay for prescriptions until a patient safety plan is in place.

One of the keys to this approach to privacy is providing clients with clear information on how and why their personal health information will be collected, used and protected. Health Canada will continue its privacy awareness efforts in collaboration with First Nations and Inuit to ensure that clients know how their information is used and protected.

To help NIHB clients understand how the Program approaches privacy issues, NIHB has outlined the rules that guide the collection, storage, use, sharing and protection of clients’ personal health information in a comprehensive NIHB Privacy Code.

A draft of the NIHB Privacy Code has been circulated to First Nations and Inuit organizations and will be posted on the Health Canada website for comment.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fnih-spni/nihb-ssna/index_e.html

There are a number of programs and services offered in Health as shown in this website.

First Nations health structures play an important role in health service delivery. Snuneymuxw Health Centre operates with the assistance of a Health Committee and is governed by Chief and Council.

This year we may have some serious cutbacks to our health funding. We struggle to keep our health programs then we are faced with more budget cuts from the Federal Government.

The Health Committee has been busy working with us on our Health evaluation project and we now have completed the process. We will be having a Health meeting for the community sometime this fall to share this process with you and other Health related news.

At this time I would like to thank all of the Health Staff for their outstanding work and for providing much needed services to our community.