Percy Elmer Moore (1899-1987)
Over a 35-year career as a public servant, Dr. Percy Elmer Moore affected the course of native health care policy in the Canadian North more than any other single individual. As director of the Indian and Northern Health service programs of the federal Department of Health and Welfare from their inc...
Published in: | ARCTIC |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Arctic Institute of North America
1989
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64707 |
id |
ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/64707 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/64707 2023-05-15T13:08:04+02:00 Percy Elmer Moore (1899-1987) Nixon, P.G. 1989-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64707 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64707/48621 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64707 ARCTIC; Vol. 42 No. 2 (1989): June: 85–187; 166-167 1923-1245 0004-0843 Biographies Canada. Health and Welfare Canada Health Health care History Moore Percy Elmer 1899-1987 Native peoples Social policy Tuberculosis Canada Canadian Arctic info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion other 1989 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:21:53Z Over a 35-year career as a public servant, Dr. Percy Elmer Moore affected the course of native health care policy in the Canadian North more than any other single individual. As director of the Indian and Northern Health service programs of the federal Department of Health and Welfare from their inception in 1946 to his retirement in 1965, it was Moore who implanted a modern system of state-directed health care in the North. . In 1946, after the Department of Health and Welfare was created, Moore was made director of its Indian and Northern Health Services. The challenge was to mobilize an immediate response to the grim health conditions facing Canada's Indian and Inuit peoples in the Canadian North. In typical Moore fashion, he responded aggressively to reports such as that of Dr. G.J. Wherrett, who, working under a grant provided by the Rockefeller Foundation and concerned with health and hospital services in the Mackenzie River District of the N.W.T., documented the existing problems in northern native health care. . The crucial years in this post were 1946-55, when the department and Moore faced a number of challenges in their drive to modernize northern health services. For Wherrett, and later Moore, the voluntary sector, particularly the churches, were an obstacle to the implementation of a progressive health care system. While the churches had provided a start at dealing with the problem of native health care at a time when the government had accepted only limited responsibility for this matter, in the postwar era the concern was that inter-church competition (for example, in Aklavik) and the use of medical facilities for proselytizing had discouraged usage and led to underutilization of beds and duplication of services. . Moore challenged the role of the churches in the operation of hospitals and rapidly implanted a system of state-run primary health care facilities, including nursing stations and lay dispensaries in the North. As well, he led efforts to interest non-governmental agencies in northern native health problems. . For all these accomplishments, however, Percy Moore was not without his critics. . In one exchange between the Anglican Bishop of the Arctic, Donald Marsh, and the Department of Health and Welfare, Moore is cited as being belligerent in opposing a northern-based sanitarium for TB treatment, a strategy advocated to lessen the negative social/psychological consequences for native peoples of southern care. . Dr. Percy Moore died of Alzheimer's disease on 15 April 1987. Along with his wife of nearly fifty years, Edna, and his daughter, Mary, he left the memory that his energy and vision had brought many of the health benefits associated with the welfare state to Canada's northern peoples. For this he deserves a prominent place in the history of northern social policy. Article in Journal/Newspaper Aklavik Arctic Arctic inuit Mackenzie river University of Calgary Journal Hosting Arctic Mackenzie River Canada Indian Grim ENVELOPE(-64.486,-64.486,-65.379,-65.379) Percy ENVELOPE(-55.883,-55.883,-63.250,-63.250) Aklavik ENVELOPE(-135.011,-135.011,68.219,68.219) ARCTIC 42 2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Biographies Canada. Health and Welfare Canada Health Health care History Moore Percy Elmer 1899-1987 Native peoples Social policy Tuberculosis Canada Canadian Arctic |
spellingShingle |
Biographies Canada. Health and Welfare Canada Health Health care History Moore Percy Elmer 1899-1987 Native peoples Social policy Tuberculosis Canada Canadian Arctic Nixon, P.G. Percy Elmer Moore (1899-1987) |
topic_facet |
Biographies Canada. Health and Welfare Canada Health Health care History Moore Percy Elmer 1899-1987 Native peoples Social policy Tuberculosis Canada Canadian Arctic |
description |
Over a 35-year career as a public servant, Dr. Percy Elmer Moore affected the course of native health care policy in the Canadian North more than any other single individual. As director of the Indian and Northern Health service programs of the federal Department of Health and Welfare from their inception in 1946 to his retirement in 1965, it was Moore who implanted a modern system of state-directed health care in the North. . In 1946, after the Department of Health and Welfare was created, Moore was made director of its Indian and Northern Health Services. The challenge was to mobilize an immediate response to the grim health conditions facing Canada's Indian and Inuit peoples in the Canadian North. In typical Moore fashion, he responded aggressively to reports such as that of Dr. G.J. Wherrett, who, working under a grant provided by the Rockefeller Foundation and concerned with health and hospital services in the Mackenzie River District of the N.W.T., documented the existing problems in northern native health care. . The crucial years in this post were 1946-55, when the department and Moore faced a number of challenges in their drive to modernize northern health services. For Wherrett, and later Moore, the voluntary sector, particularly the churches, were an obstacle to the implementation of a progressive health care system. While the churches had provided a start at dealing with the problem of native health care at a time when the government had accepted only limited responsibility for this matter, in the postwar era the concern was that inter-church competition (for example, in Aklavik) and the use of medical facilities for proselytizing had discouraged usage and led to underutilization of beds and duplication of services. . Moore challenged the role of the churches in the operation of hospitals and rapidly implanted a system of state-run primary health care facilities, including nursing stations and lay dispensaries in the North. As well, he led efforts to interest non-governmental agencies in northern native health problems. . For all these accomplishments, however, Percy Moore was not without his critics. . In one exchange between the Anglican Bishop of the Arctic, Donald Marsh, and the Department of Health and Welfare, Moore is cited as being belligerent in opposing a northern-based sanitarium for TB treatment, a strategy advocated to lessen the negative social/psychological consequences for native peoples of southern care. . Dr. Percy Moore died of Alzheimer's disease on 15 April 1987. Along with his wife of nearly fifty years, Edna, and his daughter, Mary, he left the memory that his energy and vision had brought many of the health benefits associated with the welfare state to Canada's northern peoples. For this he deserves a prominent place in the history of northern social policy. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nixon, P.G. |
author_facet |
Nixon, P.G. |
author_sort |
Nixon, P.G. |
title |
Percy Elmer Moore (1899-1987) |
title_short |
Percy Elmer Moore (1899-1987) |
title_full |
Percy Elmer Moore (1899-1987) |
title_fullStr |
Percy Elmer Moore (1899-1987) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Percy Elmer Moore (1899-1987) |
title_sort |
percy elmer moore (1899-1987) |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1989 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64707 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.486,-64.486,-65.379,-65.379) ENVELOPE(-55.883,-55.883,-63.250,-63.250) ENVELOPE(-135.011,-135.011,68.219,68.219) |
geographic |
Arctic Mackenzie River Canada Indian Grim Percy Aklavik |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Mackenzie River Canada Indian Grim Percy Aklavik |
genre |
Aklavik Arctic Arctic inuit Mackenzie river |
genre_facet |
Aklavik Arctic Arctic inuit Mackenzie river |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 42 No. 2 (1989): June: 85–187; 166-167 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64707/48621 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64707 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
42 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1766073474074279936 |