cascapedia

Cynthia Dow, LJI Journalist

CASCAPEDIA-ST-JULES -For about a year now, New Carlisle’s Matthew Munro has been working as Executive Advisor to the PDG (président – directeur général) of the local health authority, the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Gaspésie (CISSS). Mr. Munro told SPEC he very much appreciates the openness to the anglophone and Indigenous communities shown by Martin Pelletier, who was appointed to the top position in the institution in May 2022. 

“Mr. Pelletier recognizes that the Indigenous communities have been here long before anyone else, and that the English-speaking community (ESC) is a historic population. Therefore, both deserve access to all the services available from the public health system.” 

Mr. Munro has been working in the social services sector for the past 25 years. The main focus of his job is finding ways to work with the ESC and Indigenous communities to improve access to services, better understand their needs, and addressing existing barriers. His goals are “the three Cs: co-development, co-construction and collaboration.” 

“And my guiding principle is that I want to be easy to reach, to be there to listen, to advocate, to do what I can to make things smoother for people who need health care services.” 

Mr. Munro believes positions like his are essential “…because these cultures we have here in the Gaspé are unique, and the public system cannot be specialized in every culture they work with. It’s important to have someone there to act as a liaison and advisor.” He sits on provincial tables where best practices in working with minority cultures are discussed, “…just to make sure we’re up to date and applying these best practices.” 

His first priority has been to maximize collaboration with community partners. “There are lots of excellent partners in both communities, for example, the mental health advisory committee, the anglophone collaboration network, the regional access committee, and the Indigenous community of practice, which includes about 26 partners. They meet every six weeks to examine priority services for Gesgapegiag and Listuguj, including mental health, substance use, rehabilitation, midwifery, and Maria hospital services,” says Mr. Munro. 

“These days, what all the partners — ESC and Indigenous — are telling us is that the priorities are mental health, dependency issues, and the need for a speech and language pathologist,” Mr. Munro explains. 

When asked about the main barriers to accessing service, the social worker said, “I think there is a lack of understanding on all sides, so a need for more awareness of how things are, how the system works, and more communication by getting together face to face.” 

At the same time, the CISSS User’s Committee has asked him to help set up presentations to both Indigenous and ESC groups about users’ rights. He hopes these presentations will be offered sometime this spring. In the next few weeks, a delegation from the ESC will visit Maria Hospital to help improve signage. 

There is also an idea to create a community of practice for bilingual workers at the CISSS, to support them in providing services in English. 

“In all this work, I am looking for recommendations we can take to the regional access committee, which would in turn make official recommendations to the PDG, using a process put in place by the Ministry so it gives the recommendations some power, and enhances this structure which provides a greater voice to the minority communities.”