Isabelle Fortier

Nunavik’s health and social services network includes the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, the Inuulitsivik Health Centre (Hudson Bay) and the Ungava Tulattavik Health Centre (Ungava Bay). The signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) and supplementary agreements established guidelines for the development of health and social services in Nunavik. The organization of health care and social services is a provincial jurisdiction, but it is adapted to regional realities. Given the size of its population and its cultural characteristics, Nunavik is unique in combining curative and preventive methods. In the fields of health and social services, promotion, prevention and protection activities can be carried out in a more harmonious and natural fashion. The interveners and professionals of the Nunavik health and social service network face challenges at the health, cultural, social and financial levels. Human, physical and financial resources are constantly deployed to set up the infrastructures necessary to the well-being of Nunavimmiut. Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services Created in 1995 by virtue of the Act respecting health services and social services, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services’ (NRBHSS) principal mandate is to organize health and social service programs in the region (14 villages of Nunavik), evaluate those programs'​ effectiveness and ensure the users receive services of good quality appropriate to their needs. Further, it ensures the organization and efficient use of financial resources granted to the Nunavik region. The NRBHSS is an organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the populations of the 14 communities on its territory. Its overall mission is to adapt the health and social service programs to the population's needs and to the region's realities. Its head office is located in Kuujjuaq.