Welcome to the Health and Social services website.

Our Mission: To promote, protect and provide for the health and well being of Nunavut residents, in support of leading self-reliant and productive lives.

Our Mandate and Objectives:
The Department of Health and Social Services provides a broad range of programs and services in the following areas:

• Primary and acute health, both inpatient and ambulatory
• Child protection
• Family services
• Mental health
• Health promotion and protection
• Injury prevention

The department is constantly seeking new and innovative ways to manage health care in a large and diverse territory. For instance, a Telehealth network is providing some communities with a wide range of health care, social programs and services through teleconferencing both within and outside the territory.

The department works with the federal government in administering programs such as Brighter Futures which strives to improve the physical, mental and social well-being of Nunavummiut, the Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program provides financial assistance to community-based organizations which offer programs and services for at-risk pregnant women.

There are active groups within the department working on issues such as smoking cessation, FAS/E, suicide prevention and mental and dental health. Health promotion professionals, such as nutritionists and public health nurses, work in communities to promote health and well being through education and skills sharing. The department also oversees custom and public adoptions, acts as the Public guardian and provides social services through out the territory.

Our Goals are to:

• Improve the health status of Nunavut residents
• Provide supportive environments for
individuals, families and communities in making decisions that affect their health, well being and independence.
• Deliver integrated and co-ordinate health and social services to individuals, families and communities.
• Develop healthy public policy.
• Be a Department that is accountable and responsive to the people of Nunavut; that delivers flexible and excellent programming; and that is able to demonstrate effective use of public resources.

The Nunavut Health and Social Services Department provides a wide range of programs and services to the residents of Nunavut, including:

• health promotion & protection • laboratory services
• dental services • diagnostic imaging services
• mental health services • pharmacy services
• child and family health services • nutrition & dietician services
• rehabilitation therapy services • addiction services
• home support & care services • social work services
• public health services • birthing services
• community health clinical services • disease prevention
• audiology & speech language pathology • specialty services
• environmental health services • palliative care
• referral services • respite care
• urgent & emergency care services • medivac services
• acute inpatient & outpatient services

The services and programs are delivered in diverse locations throughout the communities of Nunavut; in clinics, in client homes, outpost camps, health centers and at the Baffin Regional Hospital, in Iqaluit.