Leveraging Resources by Groups of Small Communities

Wagmatcook is a member of the Tui'kn Partnership which consists of five First Nation communities located around the Bras d'or Lakes in Cape Breton. The total population is about 5,000. The Tui'kn Partnership emerged from an Aboriginal Health Transition Fund (HAFT) primary care initiative. Individually, the communities are too small and isolated to provide a comprehensive range of services. However, working together and in partnership with the district health authorities, the Nova Scotia Department of Health, and Dalhousie University, the Partnership has been successful in proposals to plan, fund, and deliver additional services. The Chiefs of the five First Nations signed a letter of agreement for the Partnership. Once the original HAFT initiative was completed, the partners continued to meet. They recently developed a five-year strategic plan that is moving them towards establishing a more formal structure. The structure will have authority and accountability to enable local responsibility for health service delivery and evaluation. The five Chiefs also signed an agreement to explore the feasibility of a Health Authority governance structure and funding model for the five communities. This is a model that could be used by groups of small communities to leverage resources.