Sandy Lee

Obviously, the money is a big factor, but also our authorities are guided by our direction, such as the service delivery model that I’m sure the Member has heard about for many, many years now; the Integrated Service Delivery Model. The Foundation for Change Action Plan does speak to where our focus is and the goals of that plan are wellness, access and sustainability. So when we’re talking about health care services, we’re talking about making sure all our residents have access to health and social services, and for some communities it is some of the resident support. But the priority is to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The act also allows us to set up boards and that’s what we operate under in the Northwest Territories. The community of Tsiigehtchic does have a health centre and it does have staff. It has a community health rep that works there year round. We also have physicians and specialists that visit that facility as well as the nurses who provide services for almost four months up to half the year.

Mr. Speaker, the Member knows that the budget we approve in the House, it is a work of our collective decisions. We work under a regional health delivery service model. I don’t think the Member is convinced of that. If we have any facts to suggest that, if we dissolve the board and hired a public administrator today, that that would get an enhanced…or have full-time positions in every community, I believe all of us would do that. Delivery of health care is much more complex. We have our challenges. It’s not just about issuing an edict tomorrow and say let there be. Mr. Speaker, we are faced...

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the Health and Social Services has been as creative and diligent as the policing service has been, because that is exactly the same model that Health and Social Services use. We understand the RCMP cannot be in every community but they do provide services, which is what Health and Social Services does.

I can advise the Member that there are right now four nurses that serve the communities of Wrigley, Trout Lake, Nahanni Butte, and Jean Marie River. The Deh Cho Health and Social Services Authority have been working on a proposal to enhance services for those small...

The Member is aware that the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority uses every dollar they have to provide those services. Vacant positions don’t mean they have money set aside sitting in the bank. Vacant positions, in fact, mean more expenditures are required because they do fill those positions with locums and casuals. Mr. Speaker, the allotment for Tsiigehtchic, for example, are being used to provide nurse coverage because they do get nursing coverage for about half of the year, which is equivalent or better than what communities that size receive in other parts of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct in saying that we have been working under the Foundation for Change to enhance our goals. The goals under Foundation for Change are: wellness, accessibility and sustainability. So we are working on that three-year plan that would change the way we deliver our programs in the North and to strengthen services at the community level, but as a Territory-wide plan to use our resources as efficiently as possible and change the way we provide services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Currently we have four dedicated nurses in Simpson that services Wrigley, Nahanni Butte, Trout Lake and Jean Marie River. Yes, we have a proposal that would enhance nursing coverage in Wrigley and those three communities in 2010. Thank you.

Nursing coverage for Tsiigehtchic and Wrigley is my priority and I am happy to commit to do as much or more than what the Minister of Justice is doing in that regard.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to make it clear, because I think that going back and forth questions may sound like, you know, we are in any way not open to receiving anything. We are open to hearing from the committee members, public, any interested organization, feedback to that discussion paper and the questions we have and in whatever format they want to do.

Secondly, we are going to -- now that the final document is on and because it went through some changes -- be distributing them as widely as possible. We’re going to put them on the website; we are communicating with the regional health...

Once again, the Sahtu Health Authority does review the workload and, in fact, they have tried to do a different model of delivery where the community health rep and homecare support services were combined in some communities. I believe the authority is reviewing that, so I will undertake to discuss with the authority and get back to the Member.