Construction is starting on a new Indigenous healing space designed for children and their families accessing health care at HSC Children’s Hospital. 

The Indigenous-led 2,000 square-foot (185 square metre) space is the first of its kind in Canada, the Children’s Hospital of Manitoba Foundation said in a news release on Tuesday.

Métis pediatric surgeon Dr. Melanie Morris, who serves as the physician lead of Indigenous health at the Children’s Hospital, began leading this project over a decade ago. She said she wanted to create a space where Indigenous children felt safe and cared for.

“For too long, our Indigenous families come through these doors and feel like strangers. They come in moments of grief and fear, in the worst time of their lives, and they’re asked to leave themselves at the door,” Morris said during a Tuesday ceremony inside the bare space, which will eventually feature design elements that reflect First Nations, Métis and Inuit culture and spirituality. 

The $2.2 million project, which is being designed by Stantec and Indigenous designer Destiny Seymour, will have space for traditional Indigenous ceremonies — including smudging — and a place for Elders, healers and knowledge keepers.

There will also be a library space with Indigenous-language books, breastfeeding corner, private conversation area and technology to connect children with loved ones in remote communities.

“Culture is important, it’s medicine,” Morris said.

Stefano Grande, president and CEO of the children’s hospital foundation, said the majority of children accessing medical care at the hospital are Indigenous, accounting for about 60 per cent of patients. 

He said addressing that overrepresentation is central to reconciliation efforts at the hospital, adding there is a “direct line between colonialism and why those kids are here today.”

Grande said the foundation is hoping to raise an additional $1 million in funding over the next year to achieve their goal.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said the space will mean so much to the children and families who will eventually gather there.

“I know that when our families, our Indigenous families, come into the hospital, it can be a very scary place for many people, for children. This space represents a place where they are seen and they are respected, and where their culture matters,” Wilson said. 

Antonina Kandiurin, who is in her second year of medical school at the University of Manitoba, said walking into the space “almost felt like home.”

Originally from Churchill, she said she was two years old when her family temporarily relocated to the Ronald McDonald House in Winnipeg while her younger brother was in the neonatal intensive care unit for weeks. She said the family was isolated from their community. 

Kandiurin said the new space feels “warm” and she’s looking forward to hopefully caring for patients there one day. 

Morris said they hope to have the space built in about a year. 

The foundation said a construction services tender has been issued and submissions are under review.

“We are going to create a place where they can heal and be strong and proud,” Morris said.