Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I said I wasn't going to do a statement, but I can't. I just cannot do that. So I have to say something. So, Mr. Speaker, I am fortunate to have an office on main street in Hay River that's accessible to all residents and, Mr. Speaker, today I want to let those persons who stop by my office for coffee, and sometimes they actually ask for advice, I will be home Friday so when you see my truck outside come on in.

Mr. Speaker, a service I do provide to residents in Hay River is the preparation of wills, personal directives, and power of attorneys. I just...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NTHSSA recruits positions for Hay River, and it is not working, as we continually see notices from HRHSSA confirming physician shortages which translate into fewer services.

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the HRHSSA, I ask the Minister if her department is willing to shift the responsibility of physician recruitment back to the HRHSSA? Failing that, then maybe, just maybe, it is time for this government to dig deep and come up with the required funds to integrate the HRHSSA into the NTHSSA and if that is what is needed to improve healthcare for Hay River...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk about supported living. In Hay River, we have a facility there and it seems to, you know, work fairly well. And I think most of the people that are living there are pleased with it. Has an assessment or is it, I guess has an assessment been done in Hay River as to whether that facility needs expansion? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the HRHSSA uses locum physicians to deliver healthcare in the community. My understanding as to why locums are used is that they are a means to support continuity of service for their gaps in recruitment and retention or where permanent positions are not available. However, the use of locums has become the norm for Hay River; therefore, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of health, has there been an assessment or a study completed to determine if there's a gap in the quality of healthcare delivered by locums versus that of permanent physicians? If so, will the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And the two years I guess it's been in operation two years and I think you said you extended it for another year. What was the review criteria that was used, I guess, for the extension? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I apologize to the Minister, I might have embellished a bit there when I said good luck. So I apologize for that. But, you know, it is tough for, you know, people who are looking for detox when there are no dedicated beds. They are put in the health centre and they may they may or they may not be provided a bed. But they need that support, especially when they decide it's you know, they want to be there. And some of them will go in, I know, and they will maybe last a day and they'll get out again and go right back to what they were doing.

The other thing that I...

That's all. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Earlier today the Minister mentioned that we have a physician shortage of approximately 40 percent 46 percent. Is that reflected in the budget, or do we carry that number, I guess, for a full complement of physicians, or do we budget based on that we're always going to be, you know, short physicians, because it seems like it could be a substantial number. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, you know, I think it would be well worth adding that into, something like that for the smaller communities. Like I say, it's not a big cost and I think that would you know, it would really be beneficial to homeowners. So, again, I just ask the Minister to you know, if she would at least commit to looking into it and hopefully doing and the other thing is talk to her colleague there, the Minister responsible for Housing as well because a lot of the units are public housing units and maybe they can be incorporated into that, you know, over a number of years and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I apologize to the Minister for putting her on the spot without giving her questions ahead of time, but I guess what I'm trying to I'm going to do here is offer a solution. It's a small one. But, like, power outages in small remote communications can be devastating. So would the Minister be willing to support an upgrade to homes that would allow for them to tie in small generators? Because most communities, a lot of people have smaller generators and if they have an upgrade to their panel, they can the power goes out; they'll be able to flick a breaker and be able...