Celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Month

At AHS, everything we do is driven by patients and families, and ensuring they receive the best possible health care experiences.

Part of that involves understanding the unique cultural needs and perspectives of everyone we serve, including the more than 220,000 Indigenous people in this province.

Throughout National Indigenous Peoples Month, we are celebrating the strength and resilience of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people by highlighting some great work taking place throughout the organization.

One silver lining of the pandemic has been the development of some great partnerships between Indigenous communities/organizations and AHS that we hope to continue to foster into the future. While we know we have a lot of work to do yet, we have seen what is possible when we work together.

With me today to discuss what they have learned and experienced while working with Indigenous peoples and communities throughout pandemic are:

• Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, Senior Medical Director, Indigenous Wellness Core
• Dr. Alika Lafontaine, an anesthesiologist from Grande Prairie who is the newly appointed and first Indigenous President of the Canadian Medical Association.

Monday, June 21, is National Indigenous Peoples Day. I encourage you to join our virtual events to celebrate and honour Indigenous peoples in Canada. Visit Together4Health to learn how you can participate.