Great Slave

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

There will be one in Hay River. It’s incorporated into the new build as part of the plan there. There will be one in that community. At this time there isn’t one scheduled or planned to be in Norman Wells, given the nature and degree or scope of that particular facility.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

We’re committed to providing health and social services in the Northwest Territories as close to home as possible, and I hear the Member that we have some issues with Liard and the trust issues. I’d say that it’s going to be important for the future Ministers and the existing Minister as well as Members to work with our communities to find out how we can overcome some of those trust issues and re-encourage some trust and faith in the system that is available here in the Northwest Territories.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

As I’ve indicated previously, we have a really positive working relationship with the NWT Seniors’ Society, who represents seniors from across the Northwest Territories and the board actually has representatives from people from across the Territories. We work closely with them and are always seeking their input and guidance. I am happy to meet with seniors’ societies across the Northwest Territories to get their input. The services and programs we are talking about are ultimately for them and it’s important to make sure they are engaged. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

The line the Member is referring to is the medical equipment biomedical evergreening. Much of this can be quite small, Mr. Chair. Some of it is small machines, some larger machines. Some of it is diagnostic machines and some are more complex. We are always looking for ways to bring the services as close to our residents as possible. We have to acknowledge that it’s not just machines but specialty expertise, specialty employees who come to us who have particular training who sometimes have to come to these machines. It’s a little difficult to talk about this category with respect to machines...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

The Government of Alberta, the Alberta Health Services is our primary partner in the delivery of services. They do most of our diagnostics around things like MRIs, they are the specialists that we send our residents to, and they have a direct link and cooperation with our practitioners here in the Northwest Territories and agreements that allow them to share information, where appropriate, as long as it falls under the Health Information Act and the Access to Information.

We have agreements in place that allow us to work together and refer to them. We don’t have those same agreements with BC...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

Pardon?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a fairly positive working relationship with the NWT Seniors’ Society and we have provided funding for some meetings and some of the functions that they’re undertaking.

With respect to facilitating the exact type of meeting that the Member is talking about, I will talk to the department to find out where we are with those kinds of supports and I will get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

I think the extended care unit is a good example. We do learn from past mistakes and there is, on the next page, a request for money to build the extended care unit here in Yellowknife that would ensure we don’t run into the same problem we ran into in Hay River.

Coming back to the management of the new building, the management of the old building will be taken over by BHP. They are responsible for leasehold improvements and tenant management. We don’t have a cost related to any construction in that building. We do have an opportunity, depending on the tenants who are brought in, to have some...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

I agree completely. That’s what we are trying to accomplish through medical travel modernization. We want to have clear rules. We want to make sure people understand their obligations under the rule and understand the Medical Travel Policy, that they understand their roles, both as a professional and as a recipient and that it has the human component built in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 5th Session (day 87)

I agree with the Member; we need to make sure we are getting in front of this and we are working very closely with Avens to find some solutions. We are exploring a number of different financing options that are available. They have expressed an interest in a partnership opportunity in the extended care which would help leverage moving forward with the 60 beds they want to provide here in Yellowknife. I know they’re working with the Housing Corp to talk about the renovations of the existing facility once they have a facility to move people in.

This isn’t just a Yellowknife problem, I’m sure the...