Tom Beaulieu

Mr. Chair, this is a new standard. We are incorporating this into all of our new facilities.

Yes, the codes are much different. In a hospital we have to have different types of air exchanges. For example, I find out that if you have an operating room, you have to exchange air 20 times an hour. So you don’t need to have that type of air exchange in a treatment facility, of course. So, much different.

Mr. Chair, we are having an O and M discussion. This business case will be completed before the end of this calendar year so that we can possibly have inclusion for the next fiscal year in O and M.

As the Member is aware, we essentially started the new budget three months into this fiscal year. Within that budget is where we are funding this forum. The forum has not travelled yet. Their first function will be to come together in one central location. From then on they will travel to two or possibly as many as four communities in each region, the four different forums, and they will come back together with their recommendations. Once they come with their recommendations, we will be matching what is needed. In addition to that, we are reviewing the one residential treatment centre that we...

The process used is a business case. We have to develop a business case working with the authorities. The three authorities in which we’re building business cases for to create flexibility in the physician funding is Tlicho, Fort Smith and Hay River.

We have a treatment facility on the Hay River Reserve, Nats’ejee K’eh. The department spends about $2 million annually on that facility to run it. Including Yellowknife, there is a counselling program, a community counselling program where we have $6 million. Then we have the on-the-land programs, which their allocation is approximately $25,000 per community. So off the top of my head, those are the programs that are available today. There is no other infrastructure outside of Nats’ejee K’eh that’s available for residential treatment. Thank you.

What Mr. Bromley is referring to is health records, electronic health records. So if the Chair has no objection, I would like to have the deputy minister explain the difference between electronic health records and electronic medical records.

We work with the practitioners that use the facility to provide the health service in the design aspect of the centres, and also during the development of the design, we consult with the health and social services authorities responsible for that particular community.

As I indicated, we are looking at that. We need to determine the needs by how using that integrated service delivery model will, again, determine the scope of practice that is presented to every community through all the of physician fields. With that model we have to make that decision to use our resources where they have the greatest impact. We’re not pleased that we have communities that do not have nursing, there’s no question about it, but we have to make the right decision. It’s very difficult to pay people on a full-time basis for doing nothing. That’s what happens sometimes when you...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This money, we’ll roll it out and will get us to a stage where it’s functional, but there will always be ongoing costs. So electronic medical records are up to date and maintained and useable at all times across the board. Although this would get it going, there will be ongoing costs.