Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the long-term care facilities, you know -- and I hear where the Member is coming from. We do spend a lot of specialized out of territory based-care for our residents in the Northwest Territories. The thing with that, it's not space in the territory. Like, we don't -- but it's the specialty that they require of care. And long-term care, the levels of care that we provide in our long-term care facilities, you know, depending on where -- you know, if you're in Inuvik, there's only a certain level of care that is able to be provided. In, you know -- and then we...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I may turn it over to Mr. Heath. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not going to delve down into which programs. Yes, there are multiple systems and that is the problem, is that none of them inter -- none of them talk to each other. And so when physicians and any practitioner has to access blood work or the appointments or the charting tool, yes, they have to log into multiple different levels. They're -- you know, they have to have -- they can't get other staff to support them because of access to information and all of these different barriers, and those are all of the things that we're looking at. And there's been...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As you may see, the capital budget doesn't have amounts and so a lot of these things will -- you know, they're on here because we need to do the things that the Member is asking. Whether or not it allocates this amount or how far we go, but the planning study -- and to figure out how many bed facilities that is going to be required for that is going to cost an amount. So we need to be able to allocate dollars to be able to do that work. So, you know, it may not be what the Member -- or is saying, but there is an amount that will need to be able to -- so we could spend to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, yes, the -- there is an overnight space for -- and there is currently an overnight space emergency shelter, and those users do use the day facility currently and so they would continue to use that space. How the program evolves, you know, once we're in that space and how we operate the program and, you know, once we're in the space, you know, may change and may be able to provide other supports, but at this time right now what we're -- where we are is we're just replacing what we currently have. And, yes, they do stay overnight and then they can, you know, be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are currently seeking -- we are working on the procurement process for the new electronic medical records. As I've said in this House many times, our EMR is coming to an end. They will not be supported any longer. But what I will say is is that -- you know, the things that the Member is raising, it is -- we are well aware of these issues and that's why the urgency on this RFP going out to ensure that the procurement process rolls out. And then depending on the system that they think that meets the needs will depend on how long that rollout takes. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will turn that over to the ADM.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Joining me today from the Department of Health and Social Services are Chris Clarke McQueen, director of infrastructure planning. And Perry Heath, assistant deputy minister for corporate service and cultural safety.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that is part of the process of the planning and within Hay River, like the Member -- like the ADM said, is that we have the older facility. Those people will have to move into the new facility once it's decommissioned as it's at the end of its life. So all of that information will be taken into account.

Mr. Speaker, yes, the plan is for the review of the medical travel policy and some of these areas that the Members have raised are a part of the review of the policy. Thank you.