After seven years, the new Lheidli T’enneh Health Centre is complete.
Chief Dolleen Logan said it was her first official meeting as a Lheidli T’enneh Council Member in 2015 when the approval for the project was received.
“It’s been a long road, and we see it up, and it’s the finishing that takes so long,” Logan said.
“That’s what drove us the most nuts, the driving by and ‘is it done? Is it done? Is it done?’, so when we finally got word that it was done, it was like ‘we can finally check that one off the list.”
Logan added the new health centre will provide a safe space for Lheidli T’enneh members to see a doctor.
“Some of our Elders have trust issues with doctors, and some of our youth too,” Logan explained.
“This place is a safe place for them to be comfortable to come to. We had one Elder who unfortunately passed away quite a few years ago, but he would’ve came here.”
Lheidli T’enneh Health Director Tamara Seymour added the centre will be staffed by about eight or nine medical professionals, including four health staff from the First Nation, a pair of doctors, and mobile staff that will come to the centre.
“Over the years we’re hoping to grow, and right now we’re just establishing our health centre, building it, and getting all our systems set up to run a proper medical system,” she explained.
“We’re in that implementation stage, and we’re very excited to blossom through that.”
During a ribbon cutting ceremony at the health centre, Lheidli T’enneh Elder Ron Pierreroy gifted a painting of Granny Seymour that was previously on display in a church in Fort St. John to the health centre.
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