Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to stand here today on our micro theme day on community nursing.
In theory, this government provides high quality health care to all residents regardless of where they live. In reality, there’s a two-tiered system. A handful of small communities don’t have year-round fully accredited health providers. Wrigley is one of them.
When the nurse isn’t there, except on a fly-in basis, residents don’t have reliable access to health care like the larger centres. This creates a scary situation when a serious medical emergency arises.
For years I’ve been pressing the government to staff empty nursing stations in Wrigley. We were told full-time nurses couldn’t be hired unless police officers were on site. In 2010 we seemed to be making progress by securing policing services. However, that is where everything came to a halt.
Although the former Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Sandy Lee, approached the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority with a plan to enhance services in Wrigley, it was never implemented. It seems there was a peculiar disconnect as the regional authority disregarded the Minister’s recommendations.
Regrettably, the succeeding Minister of Health and Social Services withdrew the plans, stating that Wrigley didn’t meet the minimum threshold under the department’s service delivery model. The reason given was the community has to have 250 people to warrant full-time nursing staff.
This delivery model must be revamped. I should not have to provide a report of the statistics on the rise of cancer, diabetes and heart disease in the communities. Health care shouldn’t be reduced to numbers. People’s lives hang in the balance. Who says because you live in a smaller centre, you can’t enjoy the same level of health care as the larger centres do?
Nurses play a critical role in the lives of people every day because there are no doctors in the communities. Often it is the nurses who help diagnose conditions such as cancer and diabetes at the earliest opportunity. Nurses providing preventative measures should be our goal in health care.
There’s another element. With the new oil and gas exploration in the Sahtu region, Wrigley is experiencing more traffic visitors and activity. Due to these changes, the community’s needs have begun to escalate.
At this time I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you very much, colleagues, for being content with me concluding my statement. Due to these changes, the community needs have begun to escalate. It is the only community on the winter road from the Sahtu to the Mackenzie Highway. It’s about halfway between Tulita and Fort Simpson. There are no services in between.
We have been told in the House that the Department of Health and Social Services is currently reviewing options and creative ways to provide health care. I would like a report from the current Minister on plans to enhance nursing services in Wrigley and other small communities within Nahendeh.
It’s no secret that governments across this nation struggle to provide high-quality health care in small Aboriginal communities. Given that 50 percent of our Aboriginal population is smack dab in the midst of that statistic, I say it’s time for us to lead the way and refuse to accept the status quo by developing a plan that meets the community needs within the 17th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
