A new health and wellness centre has opened in Old Crow, Yukon, and it’s something Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Pauline Frost says is “long overdue.”

“It is absolutely beautiful,” Frost said, of the new $55-million facility in her community. “This is what every Yukon community needs.”

The new facility replaces the community’s old health centre which dates to the 1970s. Frost said the older building was in serious disrepair, with things like rotting stairs and a history of leaky fuel tanks on site.

“You go walk out, you open up the underside of the building and you can smell the diesel contamination,” she said of the older building. “For the residents and the users and the health professionals that used the facility, it was just really an accident waiting to happen.”

The new health centre is called Natr’idizhii Srii Tr’agwandaii Hah Zheh, meaning “place for healing and wellness” in Gwich’in.

The new health centre is called Natr’idizhii Srii Tr’agwandaii Hah Zheh, meaning ‘place for healing and wellness’ in Gwich’in. (Government of Yukon)

Health Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee says it will offer primary health care, home care, substance use treatment, counselling and other services “all in one spot.”

There will also be space for visiting nurse practitioners or doctors, including housing for them in a new 10-plex apartment facility built as part of the project.

“So that in addition to opening a new health-care facility in Old Crow, we didn’t put an additional burden on where people could stay. We focused on making sure that as part of our health and human resources strategy, that housing was available as well,” McPhee said.

The new health centre has been operational since July, but the official opening was announced earlier this week. Frost said the feedback from community members so far has been “very positive.”

“We are hearing … that they love the facility,” Frost said.

Inside the new health and wellness centre. (Government of Yukon)

She said so far it seems more people are using the new facility, which she interprets as a positive sign.

“Our objective is health care, how do we provide better health care to reduce emergencies and to prevent illnesses. So trying to look at preventative measures and get ahead of the acute illnesses and get ahead of the air medivacs that we’ve seen historically,” Frost said.

McPhee says the new health centre is part of a longer-term effort to address health-care infrastructure across the territory that is “not terribly up-to-date.”

“We’ve committed in this year’s budget to do a review of infrastructure, health-care infrastructure, across the territory,” McPhee said. “So that will be done, including some of the facilities that are here in Whitehorse.”