Parents relieved report into baby Makibi Timilak's death will be released
'It's been hard the past few years and I hope nobody goes through it again,' baby's father
The parents of a three-month old baby who died in Cape Dorset in 2012 are relieved a final report looking at circumstances surrounding their son's death will be released on Monday.
"It's been hard the past few years and I hope nobody goes through it again," said Luutaaq Qaumagiaq, the baby's father.
"I hope it helps out other people, our fellow Inuit everywhere," he added.
Three-month-old Makibi Timilak died hours after a nurse at the local health centre allegedly refused to see him. The nurse, Debbie McKeown, was later promoted to the community's top nursing position.
The government's review was prompted by a CBC News investigation into the circumstances of the infant's death.
The report will be released in Cape Dorset by the Minister of Health Paul Okalik and Katherine Peterson, its author.
"I learned from the parents of baby Makibi how heartbreaking it is to lose a child," said Peterson. "It really is something that is almost difficult to put in any kind of words to properly."
Peterson said that the report is a comprehensive investigation into the baby's death.
"The text is quite long," she said. "The situation was a bit complicated and I had to talk to quite a lot of people."
Peterson said the report includes more than 40 recommendations dealing with a number of issues, including government process, education, training, and staff management.
She said since the government asked for an external review, they should respect its findings.
"When they have a report that says: 'this is what happened and this is what I think you can do,' I think it's a reasonable expectation that the government act on that," said Peterson.
Peterson said that while working on the report, she gained a great deal of insight into the healthcare system in Nunavut.
"I learned a lot about the delivery of health care in Nunavut and just how difficult and complex the delivery of health care is," she said.