New board for Health Center

The Kanesatake Health Center (KHC) held its first annual general assembly (AGA) in two years Wednesday night, electing a new board and giving community members a look into the centre’s operations.

Nearly 70 Kanehsata’kehró:non attended the meeting at the Community Building, where four seats on the board of directors were filled. Samantha Pepin, whose term has not yet ended, occupies the fifth seat and chaired the meeting.

Sohenrise Paul Nicholas was elected to a three-year term with 49 votes, while incumbents Ellen Filippelli and Gordon Oke received 39 and 29 votes respectively, also for three-year terms.

Reriahsiio Isaiah Bonspille was elected to a one-year term with 20 votes; the length of the term is to try to stagger elections, so whole boards will not have to be replaced at once.

Jennifer Trentin, who garnered 19 votes, and incumbent Gabrielle Lamouche, who notched 18, did not win seats on the board.

“I want to emphasize the qualities of the candidacies for the board members,” said SOAR Solutions’ executive director Rola Helou, who coordinated the AGA. “I’m sure it was hard for people to select.”

She emphasized the different perspectives the board members will bring to the task.

Whereas Oke has been an interim board member for a little over a year, Filippelli will be entering her second full term. She said she was motivated to run in part to ensure that corporate memory carried over.

“We were in a transition, you could say, from the way the Health Center was in 2021 to now. It’s just growing. There’s still so much to do on the governance side, policies,” said Filippelli, who has been serving as president and has previously served on other major community boards.

“It’s an honour and a privilege, and I feel if I was elected for a second time, then people feel confident in my leadership on the board, and they feel confident that I’m making the right decisions like I have done in the past three years.”

She said a lot has changed since Teiawenhniseráhte Tomlinson was hired as KHC executive director, with an emphasis on making connections between different programs in a bid to address both physical and spiritual needs, with plenty of partnerships in the community.

“The health centre is like the heartbeat of Kanesatake,” Filippelli said.

Oke, for his part, ran on his varied institutional experience, including serving on the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake in elected and advisory positions and working at Service Canada.

Oke wants to see the health centre emphasize clarity, so people understand the services it can provide - the topic of one of four questions posed by community members at the assembly.

“One of the most important things is the community and its membership. They need to be informed of the services and what’s coming down the tubes,” said Oke, offering Jordan’s Principle as an example of a critical program not everyone knows by name.

He also wants to see improved outreach to elders, who may not use computers or even have access to transportation, and youth who may need guidance.

However, while he said there is always room for improvement, Oke believes the KHC is on the right track.

“That’s one of the reasons I jumped on board, seeing this organization moving forward and bringing new projects forward, to be inclusive for the majority of our community members,” he said.

Following the vote was the executive director’s report, which differed from usual in its presentation, with staff from clinical and social services speaking directly to the audience.

“It was a good way to keep things fresh, have more people meet our team, and also expose our staff to a different aspect of the organization,” he said. “It was also an opportunity for those staff members who are community members to have a voice also in how the organization is governed.”

Among the community questions was one about the status of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) investigation that has hung over the community for years, with a criminal complaint filed in 2021. The investigation pertains to alleged misuse of funding intended for COVID-19 pandemic relief; no charges have ever been filed in the case.

In response, Tomlinson - whose tenure began only after the allegations emerged - said the KHC was focused on moving forward, but he revealed that investigators had sought an extension until June 2025 and that no reason was given for the request.

The other two questions related to the availability of doctors. There are only two doctors currently working with the KHC, one of whom is decreasing hours ahead of retirement, while the other balances clinical time at KHC with hours elsewhere in Kanesatake.

The KHC is making efforts to increase the presence of doctors at the KHC, but this is complicated by the fact doctors are not employees of the organization and the shortage of doctors in the province.

The 2022-2023 financial statement that was presented at the meeting was posted Thursday morning on KHC’s website. The 2023-2024 statement, also presented Wednesday night, is not yet available.

“In summary, the KHC is in good financial shape according to the auditor’s report, which (Tomlinson) presented,” said Helou. “Revenues, assets, and liabilities have increased in the past two fiscal years.”

Last year’s AGA was postponed following accounting delays caused by the ERU investigation and technicalities regarding KHC’s investment in the Community Building.

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Correction: A previous version of this article said that Gordon Oke had worked at Indigenous Services Canada. In fact, he worked at Service Canada. The Eastern Door regrets this error.