Tom Beaulieu

The experience for the patients seem to be very positive in Fort Smith, Hay River, Yellowknife as indicated, and anywhere, even in the smaller health centres, where we’re using nurse practitioners, it has gone very well.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Our intention is to start discussions with YK Health and Social Services Authority, for them to work with the organization that is currently the shelter, the John Howard Society, and to bring those issues to the forefront and that they’re to discuss those issues. Direction will be given to YK Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we are part of the rest of the provinces in any sort of bulk purchase of pharmaceuticals that is negotiated.

Yes, we can make that available to Social Programs for evaluation.

We are starting with the organizations that I just spoke of, the Tlicho, the Inuvialuit and YK Dene. We’ve also met with the NWT Association of Communities at the last meeting in Norman Wells and advised all the communities that we were doing this. What we’re hoping is the communities will work with our coordinator, well known to all in the Association of Communities as she worked for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs for many years and had a major role within that association. I’m hoping that we get some uptake from the communities, but for now we’re starting with those three...

The process that we would be following is first providing direction to JLC, the Joint Leadership Council, of all of the authorities and asking them to come up with a physician recruitment plan and look at the flexibility of putting the possibility of allowing, within that plan, a role for nurse practitioners. Then once we get the plan, which we’re expecting this fall, in September, actually, we would then take that funding model for physicians, or the physician recruitment model, back to the Financial Management Board because the money that’s in physician funding is approved by the Financial...

Thank you, Madam Chair. As indicated by the Minister of the Housing Corporation, Joe Greenland should be ready this summer or towards the end of this summer, for allocation of those units to the elders in Aklavik. Our deputy is working with the president of the Housing Corporation on trying to build or renovate these places and build these places for elders to live in and provide assisted living from our department. We’re prepared to do that in Joe Greenland, so that we support the elders that will be moving in there.

As MLA Blake said, when we use the term long-term care, then we say, well, we...

Yes, it’s staffed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The shortage of doctors at the regional level is an issue, there’s no question about it. We have had a meeting with the Joint Leadership Council. The Joint Leadership Council is the chairpersons and the public administrators of all of the health authorities, health and social services authorities. We have asked them to develop a plan, a recruitment plan for physicians, by September of this year. I’m meeting with the Joint Leadership Council again on June 15th of this year to get a bit of an update on how things are moving in that area, and we’re hoping that we’re able...

As we take a look at the delivery model again, many of the functions that are in the authority like the public health, Healthy Families and public health nurse and so on are targeted towards early childhood development and are part of their functions. A part of many of the positions in the authority are addressing the early childhood development. We will make sure that any information that we get as a result of having Dr. Corriveau back in our employment will be given to the health and social services authorities.