U of S looks to add Indigenous health division to College of Medicine – The Star Phoenix
Aug 16, 2021
A new division dedicated to Indigenous health is meant to help foster new collaboration with First Nations communities.
The University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine has announced plans to start a new Division of Indigenous Health. Dr. Veronica McKinney, chair of the college’s Indigenous Health Committee, is among those who have spent years laying the groundwork for the new division, which is expected to have a leader in place sometime this fall.
McKinney spoke to Postmedia News about plans — and hopes — for a new relationship between the medical school and Indigenous communities.
Q: What needs do you hope this new division will address?
A: Obviously, here in Saskatchewan we have one of the highest numbers, proportionally, of Indigenous people. And we know that there’s lots of things that, I guess, are different in terms of access to health care, different systems — so federal versus provincial when you’re talking First Nations. There’s just a wide variety of different issues.
