A new report from First Light indicates that gaps in access to healthcare for the urban indigenous community are costing government more than $4-million per year.

The report is called The Health Equity Deficit. It estimates that around 1,300 Indigenous residents in the metro area currently lack access to primary care.

They argue that is contributing to “avoidable emergency department visits, preventable hospitalizations, and crisis-level mental health and addictions interventions.”

The report indicates the cost of that is about $4.4-million per year, which Manager of Knowledge Mobilization Chad Bedard argues is “entirely avoidable.”

First Light says targeted investments in culturally safe care would help close that gap, noting that they are planning to open an urban Indigenous health clinic on Quidi Vidi Road this fall.

The group is asking the provincial government for long-term funding to help ensure the sustainability of that clinic, according to policy development lead Teri Slade.