David Ramsay

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to continue with some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services getting back to the closure and I guess now the reopening of the surgery ward at Stanton. If the ward did in fact reopen on the 13th, I’d like to know what patients and families visiting patients on the surgery ward, now that the patient lounge has been converted into office space, where do patients and families go to get out of their rooms and to get some relaxation on that ward? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I heard a commitment from the Minister to have a single point of contact. If it is in Inuvik, it is in Inuvik. If we can’t have one in each region, it is okay if there is a phone number. For an individual to phone when it goes back 50 or 60 years when their name was changed, I think it is very important that they have some peace of mind that somebody somewhere is going to care and somebody somewhere is actually going to do something about it and get their name changed back to what it originally was. I am glad to hear the Minister say that. By the looks of...

Thank you, Minister Roland. Next on the list for general comments I have Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the Minister’s source is better than mine if the ward was reopened on the 13th. So I commend him on that.

---Laughter

I wanted to get back to a point that I raised in my Member’s statement and that was the fact that from a staff perspective, if the department and the hospital are turning patient lounges into offices and other patient rooms into offices in that hospital, it sends up alarm bells, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister if in fact the Department of Health and Social Services has taken a serious look at building a dedicated medical administration...

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is fine and good, but who can an individual call today, a gentleman in Tsiigehtchic, who can they call specifically today to address the issue of their name being changed no less than four times and wanting it changed back to their original name? Who in the bureaucracy can they call today so that they can have one point of contact and they can get the issue dealt with? Is there anybody they can talk to to get that rectified? Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Roland. Anything further, Mr. Yakeleya? No? Next on the list for general comments I have Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and it goes back to my Member’s statement from earlier where I was making mention of the fact that the surgery ward at Stanton Territorial Hospital has been closed on and off now for the past three years. It recently closed again for the summer and, as well, recently the patient lounge in that surgery ward was turned into a four-person office room. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services if it’s the intent of the department and the hospital to turn that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to pick up on an issue that Mr. Yakeleya was talking about earlier and that was the change of name. When we were on the road with legislation earlier this year, we were in Tsiigehtchic and we met up with a gentleman who had told us his name had been changed no less than four times during his life. He was originally from Old Crow in the Yukon. His family had moved east and settled in Tsiigehtchic. He has had an interesting time in trying to understand who is responsible for getting him and his family their name back. Is it the federal government? Is...

Thank you, Minister Roland. Anything further, Mr. Yakeleya?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak today about issues surrounding the operation of Stanton Territorial Hospital. During the summer months, the surgery ward has remained closed. It has been closed on and off for the last few years. The excuse, Mr. Speaker, is usually staffing. With the surgery ward closed, patients are being housed in pediatrics. For many obvious reasons, the reliance on pediatrics to house surgery patients seems to be an accident waiting to happen.

Post-operative patients should not be subjected to further possibility of infection nor should they be housed in...