Information taken from the Eastern Health website.
Eastern Health’s Aboriginal Patient Navigator (APN) Program, now referred to as the Indigenous Patient Navigator (IPN) Program, was introduced in 2009, and is a bridge between Indigenous communities, their culture and their respective health professionals.
Indigenous patient navigators support Indigenous patients and their families by helping them to navigate the complexities of the health-care system. The IPN program offers support to all Indigenous peoples who are referred to St. John’s for health-care treatment. With assistance from the IPN, patients and their families have a better understanding of their diagnosis, health-care plans and treatment options.
Indigenous patient navigators are also patient advocates, assisting and guiding the organization and other health providers in efforts to incorporate Indigenous cultural aspects into health-care services.
How an Indigenous patient navigator can help you
Indigenous patient navigators do a number of things to help their patients feel more at ease in the hospital setting. They:
- provide referral, advocacy and support to Indigenous patients to help them access the most appropriate health care and community services;
- arrange for translation services in Innu-Aimun and Inuktitut if required, to ensure patients and families understand the care provided;
- navigate patients to medical appointments; and
- make recommendations for, and assist with, accommodations, informed discharge planning and access to medical supplies.
Contact Information
The Indigenous Patient Navigator office is located in:
Room 2J705
Health Sciences Centre
Main Entrance (Yellow Brick Rd), around corner from Tim’s Horton’s seating area.
To contact an Indigenous patient navigator, please call:
709-777-2199 or 709-777-2110
Hours of operation are Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.