Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Throughout this Assembly, we have started to see the significant impacts of maintaining good mental health. The de-stigmatization of mental health and the promotion of best practices, and the emphasis on culturally based healing, is becoming more apparent as we enter the era of reconciliation. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Health and Social Services tell me if the progressive features of this hospital, the Stanton Territorial Hospital, can be made towards the hospitals in the Beaufort Delta so that it's within reach of constituents in Nunakput? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our commitment to cultural safety and culturally respectful healing is a system-wide endeavour, and the Health and Social Services system is making changes to service delivery to ensure that this commitment is reflected across the entire Northwest Territories. Yes, a number of activities have taken place in the new Stanton. We are hoping to learn from these initiatives to make sure that, where we can roll them out in different communities, we will. Some of them are infrastructure-related and may not be able to be done in hospitals that are already constructed, but, where we can actually implement some of the concepts and ideas, we certainly will do that.
Food services is certainly an example. We've been pretty creative about it during an ability to provide traditional foods in Stanton. That doesn't actually start until July 1st, but we brought in special freezers. We're doing training with our providers, and we found ways to make that happen, and we'll certainly learn from that and apply it where necessary.
Having said that, I do want to point out that the Inuvik Hospital is also continually improving its delivery of culturally relevant services and trying to incorporate local ideas and local concepts. They've tried really hard to bring in local art and make the place a little bit more welcoming to the local residents of the region, and they'll continue to do that. We're doing it at the territorial level. We'll take what we learn from Stanton and apply it where appropriate, but Inuvik is not waiting. They're doing things themselves, as well.
It's good to see that the Department of Health and Social Services is working with Indigenous governments and our federal government. Mr. Speaker, it takes funding from federal programs, and also, it takes implementation from the Government of the Northwest Territories, as that's where the majority of the capacity is when it comes to mental health and wellness. I appreciate the response from the Minister. My second question is: can the Minister tell me what health efforts have been provided to Stanton Territorial Hospital to address the underlying causes for mental health and suicide?
Stanton is an acute care facility, so often, by the time an individual has shown up at Stanton, there is already a health issue under way, but we want to make sure that we're respectful. We want to make sure that we're supporting. To do that within Stanton itself, recognizing that it is an acute care facility, they have recently introduced the behavioural health work model, which is actually replacing the old standard security model in the psychiatric unit. A behaviour health worker is a non-professional staff member who has received focussed, job-specific training, and they are both intended to build relationships with our clients and intervene when aggression occurs, but the training also includes identifying early warning signs and escalation and de-escalation approaches and techniques and provide support to mental health clients. So they're not just seen as a uniform; they're there to actually support the individuals and provide some opportunities for discussion in addressing some of the issues.
This is, obviously, more aligned with the recovery-oriented model of care that is presented in the Mental Health Framework, so there are things in the hospital we're trying to do to better support our residents, as opposed to the old models that have been in place.
Now, as far as trying to address some of the underlying causes, that's not being done within Stanton. I think that's being done at a territorial level. It's a multi-department responsibility. We have a number of action plans we're moving forward with for youth and adults at a territorial level.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response information from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, during his statement yesterday, the Minister stated that Health and Social Services would focus on culturally appropriate food for patients at Stanton Territorial Hospital. Can the Minister give us a timeline of when this healthy initiative will be carried out in the Beaufort Region, as well as regional centres around the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This is an incredibly important area. I don't think there's a Member from a small community throughout the Northwest Territories, an MLA, who has not raised traditional foods as an issue. The designer of Stanton, the Health and Social Services Authority, has recognized the value in that, and we have taken steps to make sure that we can provide traditional foods in Stanton, and from there we can learn and develop opportunities to look at other locations.
Having said that, they're not serving traditional food today. The targeted rollout date of the availability of traditional foods, as I said earlier, remains July 1st at the new Stanton. The staff within are currently focussing on training of staff, and staffing up processes with the contractor, who is Dexterra. Stanton Indigenous wellness staff and Dexterra plan to visit the Whitehorse Hospital in mid-June to meet with their traditional foods program staff and learn everything they can from them, so that we can bring it back here. The implementation at Stanton will provide a model, as I said, for other facilities across the Northwest Territories, whether that's long-term care, regional health centres, anywhere that we are providing food. So we hope to see this grow out across the Northwest Territories, with Stanton being the kick-off. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
