But it is no quick or easy solution to Nunavut's economic problems. There are two reasons why northern hospital patients like to have patient escorts accompany them on trips to southern medical institutions. The other reason is that patient escorts provide useful witnesses to what may be done to you after you find yourself within the often clumsy embrace of the health care system. Going to the hospital is not a pleasant experience for most people. It never will be.
People go to the hospital, usually, when they're sick, or if they've suffered a serious injury.
People who go to the hospital are rarely at their best. So when Inuit, especially older people who speak little or no English, travel to faraway places like Ottawa for medical care, they're often in a weak and vulnerable state of mind. The last thing they need to have to cope with is the prospect of having to communicate without the help of an interpreter. It's only three weeks before the creation of Nunavut. Nunavut does not, of course, have its own language policy yet.