CHCA was founded in 2001 by a Nurse Practitioner who lived on several Northwestern Ontario reserves from 1986-88 (Bearskin, Big Trout, Sachigo, Fort Severn, Angling, and Sandy Lake).After leaving the North she implemented and worked in the Nurse Practitioner role in Southwestern Ontario for eleven years. She did extensive consulting for the College of Nurses of Ontario regarding evaluating and licensing of Nurse Practitioner's.In 1992 she became a clinical preceptor for McMaster Unit verity on the expanded N.P. role. In 1996 she expanded her teaching role to all ten Ontario Universities for the Nurse Practitioner program.She felt obliged to return to the North and in 1997. She returned doing short locums for MSB (Pikangikum, Round Lake, Cat Lake, Sandy Lake, Fort Hope).She became quiet concerned about the staffing shortages. CHCA was started in an attempt to recruit, train and retain expanded role nurses in the North to reduce and/or eliminate the shortages and to lessen the strain on the overworked MSB nurses. more... See more text