Statements in Debates
Thank you. The Department of Finance has taken the lead on the financing of this particular project as well as some of the monitoring and overseeing.
I do know, without question, that the staff of the Department of Finance did review those audits that were done in other jurisdictions because we wanted to make sure that we did not relive or redo the same mistakes that were done in other jurisdictions, which goes to the comment the Minister of Finance made later about some of the overseeing that’s being done on this particular project, some of the checks and balances that have been put in place....
Thank you. Here with me today are Debbie DeLancey, the deputy minister on my right; and Derek Elkin, the assistant deputy minister on my left.
At the current time on the Territorial Admissions Committee list for Avens we have 13 people on the wait-list to get into the Avens facility, so there is clearly a need. We know that when the facility in Norman Wells and the facility in Behchoko opens, we may have some opportunity to move some people back to their initial or home communities, which we are hoping will take off some of the immediate need on Avens.
But at the same time, as I’ve indicated, and I’m going to indicate again, we’re working very closely with Avens. We have a number of options and opportunities in front of us. We need to...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We’ve been clear that this isn’t about adding any new services to the Stanton footprint at this point in time. It is a replacement of all the in-patient beds through newly constructed single patient rooms. There is a new larger emergency department allowing for more appropriate flow, patient engagement, things to help us address decontamination, isolation, those types of things. There is also a new larger medical laboratory with space for diagnostic imaging. We aren’t planning an MRI in there, but we have asked that the ability to add a footprint for an MRI be...
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 69(2) and have Bill 68 moved into Committee of the Whole.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the numbers that the Member has put forward. I mean, they are department numbers. There is no question that the degree of increase of seniors in the Northwest Territories is going to be significant over the next number of years, but it isn’t just a Yellowknife problem; it’s a territorial problem and we have to look at this with a territorial lens.
We have been putting new beds for long-term care facilities in the Northwest Territories. We will have 18 beds in Norman Wells. We are going to have nine more beds in Behchoko, and we have put new beds in the...
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.
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.
I do agree with the Member. In fact, I agree so much that when this issue came to my attention, I did ask for a formal external review to be done to help us determine how on earth we didn’t know before August 6th, how the situation happened and how we can, as a system, better respond in the future to make sure that our people are informed in a timely way.
I do also want to recognize, having said that, we still have to recognize the importance of the practitioners and their obligations under a situation like this, which is: stop the harm, work with the patients, then communicate. Thank you, Mr...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for bringing this to the floor of the House. This was a significant issue here in the Northwest Territories within the Department of Health and Social Services and very troubling to both the department and the residents of the Northwest Territories, I’m sure. The physicians, the practitioners here in the Northwest Territories stood up and reviewed every one of the 1,500 files to determine who, if anybody, was at risk, who got information, when they got information and how they got information. At the end of the day, there were eight...