Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows, NTHSSA and the department do work collaboratively with ECE in this area. And in the next fiscal year, the department is preparing for a review specifically of the speech language pathology services to understand the current service gaps and identify opportunities to improve services. And that work will include NTHSSA, Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, the Tlicho Community Services Agency, and ECE. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for that question. So last year we did reorganize services on the basis that the service provided within the schools is advisory and not therapy. The service provided within the clinics is therapy. And we prioritize the youngest children for that therapy so that they have the best success when they do begin school. Having said that, we have had and continue to have significant staff vacancies in both the inschool and the occupational therapy services. And so as a result, they were reduced for this school year. In school, consultative services...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a gap in our continuum of service which relates to people who are ready for detox and facilitybased treatment to have a place, a safe place to live while they retain regain their sobriety and move forward with counselling and the application form to get into facilitybased treatment. So what I would say about this is that the hospital is one possibility, but there needs to be a communitybased possibility as well where people have a safe place to stay where they can access counselling, where they can use whatever therapy has been prescribed to them...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to start by saying that not everybody with addictions needs hospitalbased detox. For example, somebody who has an opioid use addiction can be treated as an outpatient with an opioid antagonist therapy, which is a medicationbased therapy. So there isn't a need in that case for someone to be in hospital. The really key time that people need hospital detox is in the withdrawal from alcohol which can produce life threatening symptoms. So the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority does not have dedicated detox beds, but they certainly...

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the devastating impact that the drug poisoning crisis has had on the community of Hay River. The coroner has confirmed that there were six deaths related to drug poisoning in 2022. Many families are struggling to understand and cope with the emotional toll of these deaths.

Public health officials have noted that these deaths are drug poisonings rather than overdoses. The difference is that with a drug overdose, someone takes too much of something they know they are taking. But with a drug poisoning, the drug user is not aware their supply is contaminated...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Information for Return to Written Question 4919(2), Three Year Turnover Rates of Child and Youth Counselors by Region; and, Followup Letter for Oral Question 115919(2), Mental Health and Suicide. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a better description of these positions is adult social workers, adult services social workers. So my understanding is that the operational situation for the two when they are hired is to have one available at the health centre and one who is doing outreach. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority has been able to fund these positions with internal funds at this point but that they are looking for a longer term solution to continue funding the medical social workers. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have a highlevel service dashboard that is available online, but it doesn't drill into the level that the Member is asking for. And so I will follow up with her to give her specific times for Inuvik, Stanton, and Fort Smith. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're not looking at making that change.