Tom Beaulieu

Mr. Chair, we will proceed after a Class C estimate. We would go through the capital planning process back to the House. Block planning is where we would look at occupancy planning. It includes activity such as furniture and equipment details, word process development, program engagement for schematic planning and business planning. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The disposition of that facility is not in this budget. We are prepared to start discussions with Public Works and Services on how to dispose of that unit and talk to the community, but it was not in this capital plan to dispose of that facility at this time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my right is Deputy Minister Debbie DeLancey, Health and Social Services. To my left is the assistant deputy minister, Derek Elkin, Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Although there is no plan to build a long-term care facility in Aklavik or Fort McPherson, we will continue to work with the Housing Corporation. We’ve done some initial work with the Housing Corporation in trying to provide assisted living to individuals to remain in both of those communities. I think that the Housing Corporation does have money to renovate the Joe Greenland and also to provide a stand-alone building that they would call assisted living. What Health has to do is to find the O and M to support the seniors that are going to be in there. So we are in the...

Yes, we are prepared to look at that. We are looking at that very closely. We think it’s very beneficial to the government and the seniors across the North, if we were able to provide supports for individuals to remain in their home.

The Department is willing to come back to the House to try to provide long-term care beds in Hay River to pick up the needs that are going to be created by closing down long-term care beds in H.H. Williams.

Right now we have an expansion to a facility, the closest facility that’s being expanded is Fort Smith. However, it is likely that those beds will all be used up by Fort Smith citizens, but it’s quite possible that we could use that as an overflow, if the beds were not available in Hay River. But the intention would be to make the beds available in Hay River if that was at all possible.

Depending on the level of need, after independent living we can offer supported living, which is more home support, home care programs, going into people’s private homes, or into public housing, or into senior citizens’ homes. Also, there is assisted living, which is like people that are in some of the seniors homes where there are people supporting them to live in the home. Then from the assisted living, if need be, there’s an opportunity for individuals on a need basis to go into long-term care and extended care and so on.

We are looking at the long-term care. Actually, there’s not a removal of long-term care beds from the Hay River hospital but, rather, the removal of extended care beds. I think what’s happening is there is some mix-up between long-term care and extended care beds. One of the solutions that we discussed was to actually provide more long-term care beds in the existing facility.

As a department, we’re looking at what we are referring to as a continuum of care for seniors. Within that, we’re looking at all of the beds that are available now, including the 10 long-term care beds and making sure that...

I think the Department of Health and Social Services would be prepared to look at that.

We don’t have the history of when the planning originally started. We have the amount of money that was spent prior to this upcoming capital year that we are discussing. That is the detail we have. The building is scheduled to be completed in ’15-16.