The Wuikinuxv Nation chief and council are asking for a meeting with health authorities and the Health Ministry to sort out an overdue $75,000 helicopter bill that has meant a physician hasn’t been able to visit their community.
Tribal manager Paul Willie said Tuesday that the leaders have asked for a meeting with the First Nations Health Authority, Island Health, the Health Ministry and Port McNeill physician Dr. Prean Armogam, who has been seeing patients in the Rivers Inlet area of B.C.’s central coast for 16 years.
“Apparently there’s paperwork that got mixed up as to who was paying, so it didn’t get processed,” said Willie. “It turns out [it’s] a First Nations Health Authority issue and not a community issue.”
On July 7, Armogam couldn’t make his bi-monthly visit to the community because West Coast Helicopters co-owner Peter Barratt said he has a $75,000 unpaid bill that needs to be resolved first.
Despite a story about the unpaid bill in the Times Colonist on Sunday, Barratt said Tuesday the bill remains unpaid and he has no promises payment is coming.
Armogam had a virtual visit with some patients instead. His planned July 21 visit to Rivers Inlet is also a no-go unless the bill is paid.
Willie said the community feels strongly that in-person visits are vital for the “personal relationship” needed to provide the best care.
West Coast Helicopters started transporting doctors into the First Nations communities of Kingcome Inlet, Kyuquot and Wuikinuxv about 44 years ago.
Barratt said one doctor flies from Port Alice to Kyuquot, two doctors fly from Alert Bay to Kingcome Inlet, and Armogam flies from Port McNeill into Wuikinuxv. “Between the three of them, they owe us 75,000 bucks.”
Historically, Island Health paid for doctors’ flights into all three communities, but more recently, the province has been paying for those to Kyuquot, with the First Nations Health Authority paying for visits to Kingcome Inlet and Wuikinuxv.
The First Nations Health Authority says it’s reviewing its funding processes but couldn’t say more on Tuesday. “The FNHA is aware of this issue and is currently working with our health-authority partners to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” it said in a statement.
Kingcome Inlet and Kyuquot are within Island Health’s service area, while Wuikinuxv falls within the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. People from all three areas access medical care on the Island.
Armogam blames all three health authorities “because none of the three of them are owning this orphaned First Nations community.”
“None of these three organizations were able to figure out how to actually get the service running.”
Island Health said Friday because the Wuikinuxv Nation is not in its service area, “Vancouver Coastal and FNHA will need some time to look into this.”
The Wuikinuxv Nation, also known as the Oweekeno Nation, is a First Nations government whose traditional territory is the shores of Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake on the central coast, south of Bella Bella and north of Queen Charlotte Strait.
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