Over the last year and a half, I’ve had an opportunity to travel to many communities in the Northwest Territories, and we will continually hear communities talking about working towards developing interagency committees. I think there’s significant value in interagency committees. I have had an opportunity to talk to CEOs, public administrators and board chairs, and there’s support for participating in interagency communities throughout the Northwest Territories where they currently exist. We would certainly be willing to participate in…[Microphone turned off]…as they begin or start up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I allude in my statement to the fact that we cannot have resources on the ground everywhere all the time to respond to some of the needs of people who have either had treatment or are waiting to go to treatment that are back in our communities and needing some kind of support.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if any consideration or research has ever gone into the idea of supporting or funding local groups. That could be people who are in recovery, people who have had experience and could be trained in some fashion but would be there to support people in the community that are struggling with mental illness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
There’s already a number of community-based organizations that do provide different types or different levels of support. They may not be in every community. In Yellowknife, by way of example, there is the Tree of Peace that does provide some of those services.
We offer, throughout the Northwest Territories, two deliveries in every region. The Mental Health First Aid program, which is actually a wonderful program and I encourage… Actually, I’d like to challenge all the MLAs to actually take the Mental Health First Aid. I’d also like to challenge the MLAs to have their CAs take Mental Health First Aid, because it’s a program that helps individuals become aware and conscious of mental health issues that people have and helps direct them to where they can get resources. So I would encourage all your residents to take the Mental Health First Aid so that we could all be participants in finding solutions in helping people in need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would love to take Mental Health First Aid. I don’t know exactly how I would access that or what I could do. But as an MLA, you have to understand that we get called to the homes by parents who are going out of their minds, worried about their children because they don’t know what they’re going to do next. You can take them to the hospital, but we cannot admit and treat except for only the really critical cases. So it is hard to know, as a parent, as a friend, as a community member, as an MLA, how to respond to some of these really stressful situations, because it does involve entire families and I would say particularly parents when they’re worried about their children.
Tell me how we can access the Mental Health First Aid that the Minister is talking about, because I’ll be the first one to sign up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’m glad the Member is taking the challenge. I too will be taking Mental Health First Aid training.
The authorities have enough money to do two deliveries of Mental Health First Aid training in each of the regions every year. I will commit to getting the Member as well as all of the Members a complete list of where the Mental Health First Aid training will be, and I’ll let them know when Mental Health First Aid training is going to occur in their communities so that they can participate.
I would also encourage them, as I did previously, to please get their CAs to take it, because I know their CAs often have to deal with a lot of issues coming from constituents. But, please, advertise it in your newsletters. Let’s get the information out there so people can have the tools and the resources they need in order to help support individuals in their communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Mental Health First Aid became as prevalent as having a First Aid certificate? I mean, you can hardly work anywhere or do anything without a First Aid course and certification.
The other day in the House, also, I asked the Minister that seeing that we cannot be, as a health service, everywhere all the time in every community, I had asked the Minister again about this idea of hooking patients or clients up with counsellors remotely through telehealth or through telephone counselling, telephone support. I’d like to ask the Minister, what is currently in place and where could that go?
Actually, the Member for Yellowknife Centre answered that question earlier. We do have a 1-800 Helpline that is available 24/7 for individuals who need to talk to somebody if they’re experiencing some level of crisis. We also have the Dalhousie psychiatry program here in the Northwest Territories. It does take a referral to get to that program, but individuals can access that as a way and means of getting support they need when they may not be able to get an in-person visit. We do have community counsellors, as well, through most of the communities, and I do encourage people to follow up with community counsellors when they get the opportunity.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad that the Minister reminded me about community counselling, because as my colleague Mr. Bouchard mentioned, yes, we do have these services in the community, but we’ve recently heard that in Hay River right now that if you need counselling you are going to be on a three- or four-month waiting list, and that isn’t really good when it comes to issues of needing counselling for anything to do with mental illness.
I’d like to ask the Minister, is there any plan by his department to enhance those services in the communities so that we do not end up with a backlog of people waiting for services?
There is no plan in the budget that is before the committee today to increase the number of community counsellors in the communities. There are wait times. I will acknowledge that there are wait times throughout the Northwest Territories, but I think it’s important to note that these are mostly wait times for non-urgent clients. Clients with urgent needs are seen within 24 hours. Urgent issues, issues of extreme risk or importance can be dealt with immediately, within 24 hours.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are also addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services today. I want to follow up on my statement and ask the Minister some questions about the Housing First program.
I would like to, first of all, say that the City of Yellowknife has taken the lead on this project, but they certainly need to have other people involved in the project. The money is federal money. It’s not GNWT money. I’d like to know from the Minister how our territorial health and social services authorities and department, particularly, the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, how is the department and local authority involved with the City of Yellowknife in the Housing First program?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The mayor of Yellowknife actually got in touch with the Cabinet. He actually had a meeting with the Minister of Housing and the Minister of Justice, and I also had a private meeting with the mayor, as well, to discuss this important initiative that the city is pursuing. We are supportive. We are looking for ways to be their partners and they are looking for ways for us to be their partners. It’s early days. The discussions are early on, but we will continue to engage with the mayor and explore opportunities to be meaningful partners.
Thanks to the Minister for that. I’m really glad to hear that there’s a commitment on the part of the GNWT and I’m also glad to hear that it’s more than one department that is involved, because in order for this project to be successful, it will involve more than just the Health department. Housing and Justice for sure have to be in there.
To make this program successful, there needs to be services for the homeless. Once they are housed, there needs to be services in order to assist them with the other things that have created their homelessness.
I’d like to know from the Minister, will the department and, I guess, will the GNWT in general be able to provide those wraparound services that are necessary to treat the homeless person once they’re housed?
We’ve talked a lot about mental health and addictions services here in the Northwest Territories and we do provide a continuum of care. There are a number of programs and services that are available to all of our residents whether they’re homeless or they’re not homeless. We’re always looking for ways to expand and enhance our programs so that it’s more effective. It’s forums like this where we’re hearing from the Members and we’re getting good ideas, so we appreciate that. But those programs and services are available to all residents whether they have a house or not.
Just for clarity, I can confirm that in partnership with the city, the GNWT Housing Corp is contributing $150,000 to the initiative that is being led by the city.
Thanks to the Minister and thanks to the Minister of Housing. Always want to get a plug in, I’m sure.
The wraparound services are currently being used in the court system, I believe, and in my view, in order for the Housing First program to work, the wraparound services need to be targeted to those homeless people that are in the Housing First program. The Minister states that services are available and basically that they’re available to anybody in the territory, but I’d like to ask the Minister, as this project progresses, will he consider providing targeted wraparound services to homeless people in the Housing First system? Thank you.
It’s certainly an intriguing idea and I get the Member’s point here. If it’s the wish of committee, we’re certainly willing to have those discussions. I will note that this may be an opportunity as we continue to expand the Integrated Case Management Program that we’re applying to the Wellness Court. So this might be an opportunity or a next logical fit. So, if it’s the wish of committee, we’re certainly willing to explore that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. It’s great to hear the commitment from the Minister because the responsibility for homelessness is not at a municipal level, it is at a territorial level. So I’m glad to hear the commitment and willingness is there to consider providing services.
To the Minister, Yellowknife is taking on this challenge. Yellowknife has a fairly large number of homeless people, but there are homeless people probably in every one of our communities.
What exists in communities outside of Yellowknife to treat homeless people who have a mental illness? Thank you.
I’ll state what I’ve already said. There is a continuum of care services and opportunities for individuals who are suffering from either mental health or addictions issues from community-based counselling to residential treatment facilities. We’re still pursuing the on-the-land programming. There’s the Matrix program, which is actually an outpatient, community-based treatment program. There’s a number of these programs and they’re available throughout the Northwest Territories. Unfortunately, Matrix isn’t available in every community, but we’d obviously like to find ways to expand that out. But there are programs available to people throughout the Northwest Territories.
We do have an expedited referral process where if an individual is ready to go to treatment, if they decided they’d hit the point in their lives where they’re ready, they can talk to a health practitioner, a counsellor, they can talk to an MLA who can direct them to the appropriate people so that they can get that referral, and we could do a 24-hour referral time and get those people into the treatment that they’re ready to take. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we are fully aware, we are in a full operation budget season and it’s important that we reflect on some of the high-level questions as to a department’s performance in responding to the needs of the people it serves. With that in mind, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services on our stewardship of the Supplementary Health Program.
If one looks at the budget and health service programs under Supplementary Health Programs, and knowing full well that the cost of drugs and medical devices are on the rise, the budget has remained virtually flat at around $27 million. Can the Minister explain why? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We actually provide the supplemental health benefits as per the program and the dollars have remained fairly consistent. I will say that we’re actually doing a bit of an analysis right now because it does appear to be creeping up and the primary result is the aging population. So we will likely be coming to committee for further discussion on the increased costs to the supplemental health benefits. Thank you.
Thank you. Speaking about committee discussion, last year the Standing Committee on Social Programs recommended a comprehensive policy review of the Supplementary Health Benefits program, along with a proper appeals process.
Can the Minister indicate to the House why this has not been completed? Thank you.
It is certainly something that we’re looking at doing, but at the same time we’re engaged in a significant number of initiatives and every time we’re pulled off by committee or another group to do another analysis, another research project, it has to be done by the staff that we have and there’s a number of major priorities that were set by the 17th Legislative Assembly’s Caucus that we’re working on. We’re progressing and it’s in the queue and the work will be done. Thank you.
Again, last year the committee recommended a move towards means testing for supplementary health benefits similar to what was found in other provinces with the expressed caveat that seniors be excluded from means testing.
Can the Minister indicate to the House why this was not done as well? Thank you.
The Member may remember that during the initial Caucus meetings of the 17th Assembly, the supplemental health benefits were actually not one of the priorities that were identified. A number of priorities were identified by Caucus. We are working on those priorities right now. We are making significant progress on all of them. This is not something that’s gone away. This is something that I think is incredibly important and I’d like to see as part of the transition documents into the 18th Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, I guess the question is, and the answer is, we’re still going to be waiting here.
Can the Minister indicate, what is the department’s plan to deal with those residents who failed to qualify for supplementary health benefits, who cannot afford their prescriptions for medical devices, who are left high and dry with Health Canada, especially for patients like Patrick Kuptana in Tuktoyaktuk? Thank you.
It would be inappropriate to talk about individual cases. But I can say that we do work with our residents of the Northwest Territories, and when they do have challenges with the NIHB benefits that they’re entitled to receive, we do participate with them. We do work with them by providing the doctors’ notes and everything they need, and those issues do get resolved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I made the statement on Allisdair Leishman and the circumstances that we find him in at the Stanton Hospital currently. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
I’d like to know why the department has never formerly apologized about the breach of security that lead to this tragic incident. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not prepared to speak about a specific individual or specific case at this time. I will say that in 2011 there was an inquiry called on by the Department of Health and Social Services to look at the security and other issues at Stanton, and at that time a number of improvements were made to the security operations within Stanton, including more security in emergency. They increased the coverage in emergency. They installed some doors, locks and alarms so individuals can’t get into secure areas of the building like the kitchen, and they approved some of the operational responses for incidents of violence.
Obviously, in light of the issues that we’ve heard over the last couple months, more needs to be done and we are taking action on those as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The family has told me that, by their own admission, the people responsible for the extended care unit at Stanton Hospital don’t have adequate resources to fully care for Allisdair.
The GNWT is good at providing general health care, but it’s weak in the area of specialized care. Why doesn’t the Northwest Territories have a made-in-the-North facility for high needs people such as Allisdair Leishman? Mahsi.
Our long-term care facilities here in the Northwest Territories are staffed by competent professionals, including nurses and doctors, who actually can provide a wide range of services to individuals.
I would encourage any resident of the Northwest Territories who has concerns about their individual care to talk with their physicians to make sure that they are getting the services that they are entitled to in the Northwest Territories, and if they have any concerns about the quality within the facility, I would strongly encourage them to contact the quality assurance staff within the department to actually work through these issues to ensure that they’re getting the care and support that they do deserve. Thank you.
I understand that the extended care unit has a sterile feel. It’s not a homey environment.
Will the department commit to provide a more comfortable home-like environment for extended care patients such as Allisdair Leishman? Mahsi.
We’re actually currently going through the Stanton renewal which is going to result in a major construction and improvements and modifications to the Stanton facility. Part of that includes the development of a long-term care facility here in Yellowknife, which will actually be outside the building because they would have different defection control and other procedures that they’d have to adhere to. So there will be an enhanced long-term care facility here in Yellowknife and it will be similar to the high quality long-term care facility in Inuvik and the one that’s being built in Norman Wells and the one that recently opened in Behchoko and the ones south of the lake as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s clear that this government is experiencing inadequate programs and services for people such as Allisdair Leishman and mental health patients. Thus, there’s a challenge in the fiscal resources that are very limited.
What role does the federal government have in addressing the inadequate funding of mental health institutions and programs and services that the GNWT has currently been challenged to address the needs of the people of the NWT? Mahsi.
The responsibility of health and social services has been devolved down to the Government of the Northwest Territories. There are dollars coming through NIHB that are going to individual Aboriginal residents of the Northwest Territories for different aspects of their care, but it is the Government of the Northwest Territories for the provision of health services in the Northwest Territories. There is the health money that comes from Canada, which we understand is stabilizing. It’s not going to be increasing here in the Northwest Territories, but unlike other jurisdictions it’s not going to be decreasing as well. So it is a priority of the Government of the Northwest Territories to enhance our services and make sure our people are getting the best services they can here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
