Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I don’t disagree at all with the Member’s assessment of the value of the volunteer firefighting and ambulance services in Hay River. The same can be said in every community that has volunteers, that without volunteers, we would be unable to provide many services. I will honour the commitment I made in the House, which is we will sit down and we will look with the other departments that the Member mentioned in her statement, it was being MACA I believe, and ITI, and we will work with community of Hay River and volunteer firefighting and ambulance services...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, doctors would confirm that, in fact, a significant amount of their practice is tied to mental health issues and related circumstances, as are most other health practitioners. We have a significant amount of resources. We have a $265 million budget. A lot of it is focussed on nurses, doctors, social workers, wellness workers and mental health workers. There will always be more problems than we have resources for. The issue is to make sure that, I think, the resources we have are put to the most effective use and that our plan for the future reflects...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am assuming that universal numbers are going to be sufficient. We can give to the Member the number of allied health professionals, as well as doctors and nurses and such that we currently have on staff, or that we are funded for, as well as lay out from this budget what is currently before this House for 2006-2007.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the process of home assessments has to have the same rigour in all circumstances that once a child is, for due reasons, deemed to be in need of protection or not being able to stay in their family home, that it should be checked out. Every potential placement should be checked out with the same thoroughness. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this report was done at the request of the community, but, as well, three years ago or four years ago now when there was a change in the governance arrangement and Fort Resolution started sitting at the Yellowknife health and social service table, one of the agreements was after three years, or two years, to take a look at how things have gone in relation to the MOU. So the memorandum of understanding between the community and the department was the basis of the review. It's very specific, focussed on the issues to the people of Fort Resolution, and the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we have 15 nurses currently in the Nurse Practitioner Program. It’s being done in conjunction with the University of Victoria. The intention is not to take away any resources but to train them better. The intent in what we are doing is adding positions that are going to be staffed at the nurse practitioner level. They will be incorporated fully into the operation of the community of health centre where they will be working. As with the other program that we do, we are looking at ways of improving this. Eventually we are going to move, over time, to a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am interested in working with Hay River, as I have indicated this in the past as well, to provide them the sufficient comfort where they would be prepared firstly to entertain the alternatives that are out there to have birthing in Hay River. That being the use of midwifery to tie into a birthing team that would be there with midwives, nurses and doctors that would deal with what are characterized or determined to be normal births, which would probably be about half or more of the babies born in Hay River. We’re fully prepared to look at getting the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this work has been done and they're in the final report writing stages. I've been informed, since I queried them on the status, that we should have the report by the end of this month, and we'll be able to see what the recommendations are and share those with the community and with the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the escort provision of the service we provide is geared around a medical determination of whether an escort is required. As the Member indicated, that assessment is made by the doctor, the nurse, or the nurse practitioner who is with the patient. We are working constantly with the authorities and with the various facilities and the staff to make them aware that there is some flexibility required; that a medical escort may include being able to make sure, for example, that there’s adequate interpretation services, or that if the person may not be very...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we’re in close contact, especially through the deputy and the other officials in the department with Hay River, working with them and human resources trying to recruit doctors for Hay River. This is not an unusual circumstance, unfortunately. Other communities have still, at this point, the benefit of some doctors, though not enough that are permanent or there for awhile.

In terms of why this is the case, I think a lot of it just pertains that there’s a national shortage and there’s some circumstances, obviously, in Hay River where individual doctors have...