Charlie Adams and his wife Elsie in a photo taken by Charlie's friend George Lessard, who visited the couple at the -Montreal General Hospital in 2004, following Charlie's accident. Because of a screwup in the Nunavik health care system, Elsie had no place to stay in Montreal at the time.
(PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE LESSARD)
March 7, 2008
A beloved singer's golden voice is silenced
Born Christmas Eve, 1953; Charlie Adams dies Feb. 25
JANE GEORGE
Nunavik singer Charlie Adams may be gone, but his sweet country-rock sound will live on in his numerous recordings and in the memories of eastern Arctic music fans.
Adams, 55, died Feb. 25 in a Montreal hospital from complications related to injuries he suffered in an accident four years ago.
More at...
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/archives/40813/news/nunavut/40813_01.html and
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/Born_Christmas_Eve_1953_Charlie_Adams_dies_Feb._25/ September 17, 2004
Nunavik board explains treatment of Charlie Adams
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/archives/40924/opinionEditorial/letters.html An Inuit beneficiary under the terms of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and having his residence in Nunavik is eligible to receive health care within our jurisdiction of health and social services.
In the case of Mr. Charlie Adams, he had been residing outside of Nunavik for a long period of time and therefore is not within our health network.
As we are human and subject to making mistakes, Mr. Charlie Adams' wife was mistakenly sent as an escort for Mr. Adams. The Tulattavik Health Centre's administrators assumed Mr. Adams was a patient of their hospital, which turned out to be the contrary.
After learning this, the Northern Quebec Module (patient services) kindly asked Ms. Elsie Adams to prepare her trip back to Kuujjuaq. She was to receive transportation, lodging for the night, and a ticket back to Kuujjuaq.
As it turns out, Ms. Adams refused to leave and chose to stay in Montreal. The Northern Quebec Module gave a list of places where Ms. Adams could stay cost-free, bus tickets and meal tickets. Ms. Adams also has a return ticket back to Kuujjuaq, but chooses to stay in Montreal. According to our policy, a person who chooses to stay in the South must find his or her own lodging.
We feel compassion for Charlie and do hope he recovers from his injuries soon. After discussions between the executive directors of the two health centres and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, we have taken Mr. Adams under our care. Once released, he will go to Nunavik House and be sent up North through our patient services. As for Elsie, she is back at Nunavik House and will return to the North at the same time as Charlie.
As a regional board with the mandate of providing services through our health institutions, we ensure that we give the best possible care to our population. You are our first priority in the health network.
We regret the inconveniences for Mr. Adams and his wife, but in our actions, we respected our policy and made an exception in this particular case. Lastly, we will ensure this type of situation does not occur again in the future.
Jeannie May
Executive Director
Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services