Glen Abernethy

As the Member indicated in his opening comments and following up with his questions, Avens is a territorial facility and it has a number of people from across the Northwest Territories. As we make beds available in Norman Wells, as we make additional beds available in Behchoko, we do believe, and we have a fairly solid understanding, that some of these individuals will move. That will take off some of the temporary demand on Avens, but it doesn’t eliminate the demand. I’ve acknowledged that today.

We are working very closely with Avens. We will continue to work very closely with Avens...

We don’t want to get into the same situation we had in Hay River where there was a lot of early projections without the thorough analysis. Once again, we’re not adding new functions, but recognizing that the building is larger and that we’re designing units that are actually going to be focused on patient care and have a better layout, better flow, we anticipate that there will be increases in positions over the 30-year life of that particular facility. Over 30 years it could be anywhere from 50 to 100, but on day one I couldn’t tell you what those numbers are going to be. We need to do more...

Yes.

As I’ve indicated, we’ve been working very closely with Avens over the last few years. We’ve even presented options and they’ve presented options back. At one point in time, we were talking about working with them to utilize the extended care needs and an extended care facility here in Yellowknife as an option to help them leverage some money to build their long-term care facility. At that time, that was declined by the board. I’m happy to say that the board has actually re-engaged and they are now interested in having dialogue and discussion about the possibility of merging those two...

You forget to answer a question and you get everybody coming at you from all sides. Yes, the training is incorporated. I apologize for missing that. Sorry.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child and Family Services Act, No. 2, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Child and Family Services Act to remove all references to the Child and Family Services Committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is obviously an incredibly important issue in the Northwest Territories, especially recognizing the rate in which our seniors populations are increasing. It’s something I have asked to be included on the Cabinet’s transition document so it is brought forward to the future government. If I’m fortunate enough to be back, whether I’m on that side of the House or on this side of the House, it’s still a priority for me and would continue to be a priority for me. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The portable ultrasounds is in response to a policy that was put forward in 2006 by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. There are new national standards for emergency rooms and these portable ultrasounds will be going into emergency rooms. We’ve already got the one we need here in Yellowknife and we’re looking at Inuvik, Fort Smith, Simpson – Was it Simpson? – Hay River, my apologies, to be in – you’re right, Simpson – the emergency units. They do require some specialty training that we’re not in a position to ensure that our community health nurses throughout the Northwest...

When it comes to patient safety and patient care, we will defer to the medical practice on ensuring that the situation is dealt with. At present, when situations like this occur, the first thing that must happen is to stop the problem from continuing, to remove all opportunities for harm. That was done in this particular case. The second step is to follow up with the individuals who may have been impacted, which was also done in this case. At that point we would move forward with some notification to the public, once we understand the magnitude, scope, and the residents have in fact been dealt...

I know that with the new proposed Mental Health Act we actually have that provision in the legislation to designate an alternative decision-maker. As far as patients not covered under the Mental Health Act or the future Mental Health Act, I’m not actually sure, but I will check and I will get back to the Member.