Julie Green

The long-term care facilities are located or will be located in hubs where there is a greater medical staff presence and also a greater opportunity to recruit and retain nurses, but a physician is not essential. I think about the long-term care centre in Norman Wells. I don't believe Norman Wells has a doctor, but there is long-term care there. I think it's a nice-to-have rather than a must-have.

I would like to just say a word about the catchment area for Hay River. Kakisa and Fort Providence are within the Deh Cho Health and Social Services Authority area, and so generally speaking, they are served out of Fort Simpson, which is the headquarters for that authority; Fort Resolution is within the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, so they are served from Yellowknife. The Hay River long-term-care bed projections are based on the Town of Hay River, K'atlodeeche First Nation, and Enterprise.

What we know about the occupation of the beds right now is that, at the extended care...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's my understanding that this is a genuine engagement. We do want to verify the numbers with residents of Hay River, and we plan to meet with the town council, the seniors' society, and with the Indigenous organizations. We want to make sure that we haven't overlooked or missed anything that is important to the calculation of these numbers, so I'm going to say this is a genuine way of getting community input into this. I don't know what the end result is, but I also ask the Member to keep an open mind that, in fact, 48 institutional beds may not be the best outcome...

It is my understanding that, in doing that report, the Bureau of Statistics looked at issues such as the age of people going into long-term care; what their health status was going into long-term care; how much time they spent in long-term care; which community they were from and which community they want into long-term care in, which are sometimes different. They looked, certainly, at the comorbidities, as we say, more than one chronic disease, that drive people into the requirement for higher-level nursing care and thus into long-term care. I feel confident that the health of the population...

I'm happy to report that this work is on track. We've had a total of 14 marketing and advertising campaigns for the hard-to-fill Health and Social Services positions in the last three months, including nine of these campaigns that are specific to nurses. We've expanded the Health and Social Services professions career guide, which provides information for potential candidates about careers in Health and Social Services in the Northwest Territories. We have education, continuing education initiatives for licenced practical nurses and RNs through the targeted academic support program. We also...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Exit surveys are not consistently used, so I am unable to answer that question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for that question. Yes, Emerging Wisely is still the guiding document produced in May of last year. We know that there were a number of exemptions requested where items that were supposed to be loosened in phase 3 were loosened in phase 2, the phase that we are in now. What we're talking about is when we get into phase 3, and that is the work that will go on in April. Thank you.

The Member is right. It's variable in the legislation across the country, which is directed at the provincial and territorial level. We have a CPHO; other places have a Chief Medical Officer. Some of them have a lot more autonomy than others, different reporting relationships, so really the only thing that matters is our own legislation and the powers that it gives the CPHO to manage a public health emergency. Are they the right powers? Are they being used properly? Are they the most effective response? I think these are all really great questions that we will revisit when the pandemic is over...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question. Some of the things that we need to look at in order to advance both the relaxation of internal restrictions and the relaxation of the border include things such as vaccine uptake in the NWT and what the science says about how effective the vaccines are to stop the transmission of the virus. We know the vaccines are effective to stop severe illness, but we don't know whether, once you have the vaccine, you can still carry the virus with you. You could still be exposed, and then carry the virus with you to another location. We have a...

Again, I don't have an exact number, but the point of refocusing the long-term care beds is to enable people to age in place. We recognize that, for people to stay at home for as long as possible, they will need homecare support for some of their everyday tasks, whether that's bathing, mobility, food services. It might also be a visit from the public health nurse. There will be more homecare resources required in Hay River and in other communities in the NWT. The department is planning for that by entering into a partnership with Aurora College to enhance training of personal support workers...