{"id":431414,"date":"2026-01-25T02:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T02:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/431414\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T02:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T02:09:11","slug":"waskaganish-que-opens-new-larger-community-health-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/431414\/","title":{"rendered":"Waskaganish, Que., opens new, larger community health centre"},"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

As Waskaganish\u2019s population grows, so does the demand for accessible health care. <\/p>\n

The Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay (CBHSSJB) has officially opened the expanded Community Miyupim\u00e2tis\u00eeun Centre (CMC), a clinic to help fill the gaps in health care in the northern Quebec Cree community of about 2,700 people. <\/p>\n

The board marked the milestone with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, welcoming community members and partners to celebrate the centre\u2019s opening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community has grown in population for a number of years now,” said Thomas Hester, the centre’s director. <\/p>\n

“The former CMC was small. The services we needed, we couldn’t implement because of its size.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"AThomas Hester is the local director of the Community Miyupim\u00e2tis\u00eeun Centre in Waskaganish. (Waskaganish Community Miyupim\u00e2tis\u00eeun Centre\/Facebook)<\/p>\n

The expanded centre is about four times the size of the old one, and allows the health board to introduce a wider range of services, including hemodialysis, radiology, dentistry, medical imaging, point-of-care laboratory testing, pharmacy services, and a birthing centre being built nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already had one birth last fall, the first one under the midwifery services. That brings us closer to the days where people were born within the community or out on the land,\u201d said Hester. <\/p>\n

Midwifery services are currently offered out of the former CMC. Hester said the ability to support more births within the community is especially meaningful, as many Cree are born in non-Indigenous communities such as Chibougamau and Val-d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf ever you were to ask a child, where were they born? And say \u2018Waskaganish,\u2019 that means a lot,\u201d said Hester.<\/p>\n

For Dr. Bernard Reid, who’s been a clinical physician in Waskaganish for the last nine years, the new CMC is not only bigger, but more functional.<\/p>\n

“The functionality of our emergency department I think is one of the most significant things,” Reid said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a much safer space. From beginning to end, how patients arrive through the ambulance, how quickly they can be assessed.” <\/p>\n

\"ADr. Bernard Reid, a clinical physician who’s worked in Waskaganish for 9 years, says that the new facility is bigger and also more functional. (Waskaganish Community Miyupim\u00e2tis\u00eeun Centre\/Facebook)<\/p>\n

Reid also added that beyond expanding services, the new facility intends to reduce the need for patients to travel outside the community for basic testing and X-ray appointments.<\/p>\n

“The nearest place frequently being Montreal, which is 1,000 kilometres south. That’s extremely disruptive for patients who have families, jobs and responsibilities,” said Reid.<\/p>\n

He added that it costs less money to hire a specialist to work with patients in the community, than to fly patients out.<\/p>\n

“We have a small radiology department. This helps us avoid medevacs for less acute or less urgent X-rays that need to be done. They can be done here,” said Reid.<\/p>\n

Reid said that within the Cree Health Board, Waskaganish will now be considered a “third pole,” accepting referrals from patients coming from neighbouring communities. The others are Chisasibi and Mistissini. <\/p>\n

\"ClinicThe new Waskaganish Community Miyupim\u00e2tis\u00eeun Centre. (Thomas Hester)<\/p>\n

Hester encourages Cree youth to consider careers in health care, noting that the Cree Health Board continues to rely on fly-in doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the young people thinking of where they want to be career-wise, health care is a big area where we need expertise, and we will be requiring in the future,\u201d said Hester.<\/p>\n

The expanded services at the CMC in Waskaganish will also create new jobs, Hester said, including positions for two full-time dentists, seven pharmacy staff, nine laboratory workers, four in medical imaging, and 12 nurses and licensed nurse practitioners for the hemodialysis unit.<\/p>\n

As staffing needs increase, Hester said the Cree Health Board is also planning for additional housing to support incoming health-care workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a plan to build a 40-unit transit housing for Waskaganish in the future, that will be able to house the positions that we will require,\u201d said Hester.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Eyou Dipajimoon:<\/p>\n

Eyou Dipajimoon (Cree)18:47Thomas Hester describes the new Community Miyupim\u00e2tis\u00eeun Centre in Waskaganish<\/p>\n

On Jnauary 21, 2026, the Cree Health Board and the community of Waskaganish will officially open their new Community Miyupim\u00e2tis\u00eeun Centre, which is four times bigger than the previous one. We spoke with the health board’s local director, Thomas Hester, about what this means for community members.<\/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":431415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-431414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}