At the November 18th, 2014 General Council meeting, Six Nations Elected Council was presented with a petition of over 500 signatures of community members upset with the announced departure of Dr. Amy Montour. The presenter, Brian Hill questioned why Dr. Montour is leaving. He stated that this is the third doctor to leave the Family Health Team, a program offered under Council’s department of Health Services. Hill said that his understanding is that with Dr. Monture leaving, there will be 700 patients without a family doctor, some of them elders.
The Director of Health Services, Lori Davis Hill advised that patients are encouraged first to try to find a new doctor. A priority list is being developed to decide which patients will be transferred to Dr. Shigwadja, but those not considered priority will have to apply to be a patient. Dr. Shigwadja is a half-time doctor at the Family Health Team. There is currently a wait list of over 500 people that do not have a family doctor, and Dr. Monture’s non-priority clients will be added to that number. Councillor Carl Hill was sympathetic to Brian Hill’s cause, stating that he and his family are among the patients now left potentially without a family doctor.
Ava Hill advised that Council had previously passed a resolution to have an independent evaluation conducted on this issue. She did not comment on when the evaluation would commence or when it would be completed.
She said that they are at the point of “drafting terms of reference and a MOU,” for the independent evaluation. The independent evaluation has not begun, even though Dr. Monture is scheduled to leave December 1st. Hill advised that they are aware that there are “issues going on but we need to know how we can fix it.” The Senior Administrative Officer was questioned on his attempts to resolve the situation. He advised that he had spoken to Dr. Monture and she had told him that “if things change she would be willing to come back.”
