Tom Beaulieu

It would be difficult for me to commit on the work of doctors. However, I will promise the Member that we will have a full discussion to ask the doctors why there is surgery on a different week than when the tests are done, so that the tests are done in the same week. We have no problem whatsoever to having that full discussion with the doctors and get back to the Member with those results.

As I indicated, the decision is made by the doctor that’s doing the surgery. If we could go back to discuss the change here, I think we would be prepared to do that as a department, to discuss with the doctor why he makes those decisions on how he has the persons tested up here and then the individual doesn’t actually get the operation until Monday. We can, as a department, go to the doctors and find out why that occurs and get back to the Member.

The Department of Health and Social Services is currently working with the Department of Human Resources on a new Physician Recruitment Strategy. The strategy is to bring the doctors into the community. That is the number one priority. We are still using locums from the South. A plan B could be to bring the doctors from Yellowknife and then the doctors from here would work in the Beaufort-Delta and have more continuity, but we’re still trying to work on the strategy to bring doctors into Inuvik and the other regional centres that don’t have doctors.

Our first priority is to have doctors in the regions for easy access for the patients. We need doctors to be in the regions, and Inuvik is one of the regions and has nine positions. Of the nine positions, only 0.8 positions are filled in Inuvik. There have been attempts, there have been websites put out in an attempt to recruit, but as I said, in the Beaufort-Delta we are prepared to work with the community of Inuvik, whether it be the municipality or Beaufort-Delta leadership in order to attract doctors to Inuvik as a first priority. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I toured Sahtu with the Member. He is very right; there are many, many people in the community who were unhappy with the decision to have changes to how much alcohol can be purchased at a liquor store in the communities that we attended. The communities said they were going to feel the repercussions and they wanted to know how they could get more money for on-the-land treatment programs. I indicated to them that at this point we have, through the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority, $25,000 earmarked for each community to start an on-the-land treatment program...

That’s correct; detoxification and treatment are two different things. Detoxification sometimes occurs in the hospital for several days in order to prepare someone for treatment. Detoxification is sometimes used when somebody is coming into the hospital for detoxification, or it’s the withdrawal management system that is run by the Salvation Army here in Yellowknife. There are two separate issues. Are there enough facilities in the Northwest Territories to provide detox services to everyone? Probably not, but that’s what we have at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a very serious issue across the North, especially in the small communities. They need to address the addiction issues. Right now the Department of Health and Social Services has out-of-territory placements where when they cannot be treated in the one treatment facility that does exist in the Northwest Territories, on which the department spends about $2 million. The department spends $6 million annually in supporting all of the various health and social services authorities targeted to addiction treatment and mental health. The department also spends, specific...

The Department of Health or the health authorities have recently improved the electronic health records. Electronic health records can be used and transmitted from community to community electronically.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those decisions for lab work are requested by a doctor. As we indicated here earlier today, most of the doctors are located here in Yellowknife. I mean, I’m sure that we can use a system where the lab in Hay River can be used if a doctor goes down there to take a look at the results of lab work, but at this time it’s a clinical decision and made by physicians. Thank you.

Thank you. I agree. The department has spent a lot of money on locums and at this point that has been the solution, that the locums are coming from the South to address the doctor needs, the physician needs in the Beaufort-Delta. As the Member indicated, only one doctor that works about six and a half hours a day is employed and lives in Inuvik and our attempt is to bring doctors to Inuvik. It’s very difficult to bring one or two doctors into a community. It is a lot easier to bring a fifth, sixth and seventh doctor. So we’re trying to develop a strategy that will bring many doctors in that...