Indigenous Patient Navigators available to assist NCC members
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.