Services

Eleanor Pollock – Director of GHCS

Pierrette Bernard- Community Health Representative

Denise Larocque- Family Support Visitor  

Douglas Martin- Family Violence Coordinator  

Sylvia Gedeon -Diabetes Educator

Heather Condo- Medical Archives

Jessica Jerome- Anti-bullying/ Communications Liaison

Philomena Martin- Home Care Support Coordinator

Theresa Romich- Medical Transportation Supervisor

Dale Romich- Medical Transportation

Francis Gedeon- Medical Transportation

Lucy Condo- Janitorial

Social Services Department

Joanna Martin- Director of Social Services 

Cassandra Hillier- Social Worker/ NADDAP

 Kelsey Dawn Legacy- Social Worker

Amanda Larocque- Social Worker

Health Care Services

Pierre Paul Deslauriers- Head Nurse

Louise Cyr- Community Nurse

Shelley LePoidvin- Home care Nurse

Carol Cormier- L.P.N Homecare

Sharon Legouffe- L.P.N Homecare

~~~~~~Our community nurses ~~~~~~~

- Pierre Paul and Louise offer community nursing services such as consultations, vaccinations, blood tests, screening for diseases such as AIDS, etc. Weekly visits from a family doctor and/or a paediatrician facilitate access of community members to medical consultations.

The Centre also provides regular access to the services of a physiotherapist, a nutritionist and a diabetes nurse, as well as foot care services for those whose physical condition requires this support.

Prevention Team

Anne Piley- Wellness Educator

Nathalie Jerome- Youth Coordinator

Theresa Caplin- cultural educator/ women wellness

Patsy Jerome- Recreation Coordinator

Oral Health Care

Oral Health Care Prevention and Education Activities are conducted annually in cooperation with Wejgwapeniag School for students in grades 3 to 8. The activities also include dental screening.

COHI promotional activities are also held with community members, pre-natal program and the 0-7 age group through information sessions and setting up kiosks at other community activities

Environmental Health and Research Programs

Water sampling is conducted on a weekly basis. Beach water is also tested twice a year as well as the pumping station which is done weekly. Reports are submitted to Health Canada. Also, house inspections for mold are conducted on request.

Diabetics

The new Diabetes Educator – Sylvia has completed her training, and

has developed an extensive work plan for the coming year which involves monthly check-ups, cooking classes, teaching how to read product labels, teen ton-off competitions, physical activities, etc.

She works closely with the Diabetes Nurse and other nursing staff to provide awareness, education and prevention.

Although there were no hard statistics on the prevalence of the disease available for previous years, the two years available show that there appears to be a 22.2% increase in the number of persons with diabetes between 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, as shown below.

Immunizations are conducted by the

Nurse-in-Charge and the Community Health Nurse according to the Quebec Immunization Protocol for children 2 months to 16 years of age.

There were a number of Awareness and Education activities conducted for HIV/Aids, HPV and Influenza.

There was information distributed on STI’s, condom distribution, and an annual workshop though the

“Healing Our Nation” group from Nova Scotia that is provided to the Youth Center, and to our

community students attending Bonaventure Polyvalent School, as well as to about 40 community members. Individual consultations, screening follow-up and support are provided to about 10 clients

with blood transmitted infections.

There was an emergency plan developed

for a pandemic, information and materials including promotional kits were distributed

to the homes, and 94% of the community

was vaccinated against influenza. Travelers’ vaccinations are also provided to about 12 individuals on an annual basis.

Injury Prevention

A Bike Rodeo is held annually to promote safety and

the wearing of bike helmets. Last year, there were 135 participants.

Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program

According to the community workload component report, the numbers of Pre-Natal clients from 2005 to 2009 are:

Number of Pre-Natal Cases

FASD Programs

FASD information is part of the per-natal classes that

are provided to promote healthy pregnancies. Referrals

are made to other services if required. There are two confirmed cases of individuals affected by FASD, and support is provided to improve the quality of life.

Pre-School Screening Program

A systematic screening of all children 4 to 5 years of age who are entering kindergarten in the fall is conducted annually. The children attend with their parents, along with various professionals and community resources. It is

hoped to extend this to three-year olds, and this should be included in the next Community Health Plan.

NNADAP

Since Gesgapegiag has a higher than average incidence of drug and alcohol abuse in relation to other First Nations communities, the NNADAP program has recently been reorganized under the Social Services Department to ensure that there are trained professionals working in this area.

Brighter Futures

Brighter Futures covers the pre and post natal program, child psychological services, a pediatric clinic, a healthy snack program for school age children, and collaboration for a community summer camp program.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

The CHN provides sexual educational classes at the school for grades 6 to 8, 3 to 4 times a year. The activity reports were incorporated with HIV/Aids under Communicable Diseases.

Suicide Prevention

A Youth Forum on Suicide Prevention was held with

80 participants attending, distribution of information

and pamphlets, training and capacity building sessions, and the creation of an ASIST crisis team.

In Gesgapegiag, there have been 20 completed suicides

in 16 years. The next community plan must plan to address this issue, to develop a policy around suicide intervention and to reorganize to involve a team of interveners for suicide prevention

Breast Cancer Awareness

Promotional and educational activities were held to increase awareness, promote self-examination, encourage early diagnosis and decrease the mortality rate.

Social Cohesion Activities

The Health Center staff work hard to organize activities for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas Dinner for the Elders, International Women’s Day, and other health awareness activities such as FAS Walks, National Addictions Week, Suicide Prevention Week, etc.