Moving eHealth to Moose Factory

By Heather Campbell

Having the opportunity to contribute towards improving the health of her people is what motivated Janice Soltys to make the big move from Sault Ste. Marie to Moosonee.

A citizen of Thessalon First Nation, she decided to contribute her expertise in the implementation of electronic records and joined the team at the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) as their Manager of Health Information Services and Chief Privacy Officer. Since the hospital was transferred to the provincial jurisdiction they belong to the North East Local Health Integration Network which has been introducing electronic records to the region.

It has now been three years since Soltys and her husband Ron made the move to the far north community and she has not looked back since.

“This implementation was a big change for everyone and challenging to implement,” said Soltys about the long process of switching from paper records to e-records. “They see the benefits now.”

Soltys left the position of Manager of Health Records at the Sault Area Hospital, where she had worked for 30 years. What motivated her to make such a career move, when others her age were planning for retirement, was a desire to give back to her community and people.

Her family story is a familiar one to many First Nations people. Her mother married a non-native and subsequently lost her Indian status. When the laws changed, she was able to regain her identity and community. Her children were then also able to obtain their status.

When Soltys wanted to attend school in her mid-twenties it was the band that provided the financial support. She attributes her current opportunities to that early investment in her schooling.

“I took the Health Records course and eventually became the Manager of Health Records at Sault Area Hospital, which has now led me here to Moose Factory,” she said.

Soltys says she wanted the people living in the remote northern communities to feel that their health is important, and through e-records they become part of the northeast health care system. She travels up the coast to Fort Albany and Attawapiskat at least once a month, working with physicians, nurses and other health care providers to train them on using the system.

Although she gets homesick, she has gained valuable new friendships and sense of community in the north. Soltys says that she feels connected to the Cree people in the north when she hears the stories of residential school.

“My mother would have attended one of the schools had her grandparents not left their home and family in Thessalon First Nation to avoid the residential scoop,” she said.

Her work has gained a deeper meaning as she builds friendships in the coastal communities that she visits. She is committed to ensuring that they are not left out.  Through electronic records the people living in the remote communities along the James Bay Coast will know that their health is just as important as others in the province.