{"id":726365,"date":"2026-06-10T01:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T01:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/726365\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T01:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T01:41:11","slug":"province-announces-1-9m-for-indigenous-healthcare-in-southwestern-ontario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/726365\/","title":{"rendered":"Province announces $1.9M for Indigenous healthcare in southwestern Ontario"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The Ontario government is investing $1.9 million in Indigenous-led healthcare services throughout southwestern Ontario as part of its ongoing plan to connect more people with primary care providers.<\/p>\n

The province announced Tuesday morning that the funds will go to the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre (SOAHAC), which offers \u201cculturally grounded, holistic healthcare\u201d to Indigenous communities throughout the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you get any type of funding to help with healing and wellness, especially in primary healthcare, you\u2019re often very grateful,\u201d said SOAHAC senior manager for traditional healing Doug George.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really good start for what Indigenous people need in terms of equitable, adequate primary healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault made the announcement at SOAHAC\u2019s London site, and said the funding will support more than 2,000 new people seeking healthcare.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ALambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneualt made the funding announcement at SOAHAC’s London site Tuesday morning. (Kendra Seguin\/CBC News)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an extension to what we\u2019re doing across the province,\u201d Pinsonneault said, adding that the Ontario intends to put $3.4 billion into primary care so that everyone has access by 2029.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the next couple of months, you\u2019re going to see a lot of announcements of funding going to different groups,\u201d he said. \u201cThis group has six different centres so it\u2019s pretty far-reaching. We just want to make sure we\u2019re putting our funding in the right places, and we believe this is one of the right places.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

SOAHAC CEO Jan Martin said the money will primarily be used to hire more staff and operate mobile sites, with the goal of providing more care to people in remote and rural communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everybody can come in, and we want to meet people where they\u2019re at to make sure they get the care that they should get,\u201d Martin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blending healing practices<\/p>\n

SOAHAC offers services including dentistry, dietary support, physiotherapy and mental health services, Martin said. Everything uses an \u201cintegrated care model,\u201d which combines primary healthcare with traditional cultural healing, she explained.<\/p>\n

George said that\u2019s important for many people in Indigenous communities, who may not trust traditional healthcare providers and systems.<\/p>\n

\"ASOAHAC CEO Jan Martin says the additional provincial funding will go towards operating more mobile units in remote areas and hiring more healthcare staff. (Kendra Seguin\/CBC News)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the reasons why you still see many people with multiple chronic diseases and illnesses,\u201d George said. \u201cThose things are best \u2013 in my opinion and others\u2019 opinion within Indigenous communities \u2013 dealt with by people who understand those traumas through lived experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, George said the London site often services elders in serious condition, who would rather connect with a traditional healer than healthcare provider. Those healers are able to develop a holistic treatment plan alongside doctors within the facility, he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many of the traditional healers here know when this is a serious moment, especially when there\u2019s potential for serious physical harm to come to the patient,\u201d George said. \u201cSo they are able to walk across the floor and consult with a doctor or nurse practitioner right away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be able to actually work together so that we can blend their strong belief systems and traditional healing practice with primary healthcare for overall safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ADoug George is the senior manager for traditional healing at SOAHAC, and says that the centre’s combination of primary care and traditional cultural practices makes for a more comfortable experience for people seeking healthcare. (Kendra Seguin\/CBC News)<\/p>\n

George said the centre also works to offer other programming so that people are not only coming to them for health-related needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are constantly working on helping people feel safe within the Indigenous Health Access Centre because we understand what they\u2019ve gone through,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Need for more Indigenous doctors, nurses<\/p>\n

George said there\u2019s still room for SOAHAC and other Indigenous healthcare initiatives to grow in the coming years, particularly when it comes to getting more Indigenous healthcare professionals into the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be preferable if we had our choice of Indigenous doctors coming out of university, but we\u2019re still not there yet. It would be preferable if we had Indigenous nurses knocking down our door, but we\u2019re still not there yet,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n

He said medical programs should make space for Indigenous peoples and their traditional knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have to put that on the side in order to be accepted within that system,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Martin said SOAHAC also intends to let more Indigenous students know work is available.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need recruitment efforts of getting out to universities or getting out to job fairs, letting them know we\u2019re here and we\u2019re looking,\u201d Martin said. \u201cWe have work to do on our end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":["post-726365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}