Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. The Member is correct. The current electronic medical records system has an end date, and it is necessary to replace it. And I believe that Mr. Elkin has been participating in that process and could give you an update.
Mr. Elkin.
Thank you. Yes, so we've been doing those by Telus, who is the current provider of the EMR that will be sunset at the end of 2023. So we are currently doing the planning phase to what that would look like. They also indicated that they would support it beyond 2023 so we have a little extra time to plan on it. It's an opportunity to actually look at our current EMR and our other systems too, so maybe there's an opportunity to see what else we can roll on to another solution. So we have a project team underway that's currently looking at it. Thanks.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I'm glad I know there's a kind of a couple different systems operating and they don't always speak to each other the best, so I think this is a good opportunity, although it will probably be a very, very expensive one, to look at all of our systems.
As part of that project team looking at this, is it on their agenda a patient online portal. COVID has really pushed this to the forefront, and in many jurisdictions you can log in and you can just see all of your vaccination statuses. You can see outstanding lab test. And you know if we had something like that during COVID, it probably would have saved us a lot of headache in creating the vaccine passports and that data entry. Do we expect or is it one of the priorities of buying a new EMR system that that would be a function. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, indeed, it is a priority of a new system. It's not possible with our current system, and so it would be a great upgrade to be able to offer people direct access to their own records.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
I'm going to sneak in one more; that may be pushing the limits here. I know we have a number of software operating but we still tend to fax records. This has caused a lot of problems. Are we going to end faxing? Do we anticipate any of the software we're buying or planning to buy will end that practice. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Personally, I would like to recycle every fax machine in the NWT. But that may not be what the department has in mind. So I'll look again to Mr. Elkin to ask him about that.
Thank you. Mr. Elkin.
Thank you. Yes, so we're currently over the last year doing an inventory of all of where all the faxes are used because our ultimate goal is, yes, to move away from faxes. And, however, it's a matter of understanding how faxes are used and where we interact, particularly with the private sector, to make sure that we don't disrupt the patient care in doing that. So, yeah, we are doing an inventory to understand how and when they use and how a transition plan to move away from faxes.
Thank you, Mr. Elkin. Are there any further question, comments under the administrative and supportive service section. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am just looking at the MediPharm replacement, and I guess I don't know too much about that. So I'd just like to an explanation of exactly what that is and does that tie into, say, pharmacies as well, private organizations like that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you. I'd again like to direct this question to Mr. Elkin.
Thank you. Mr. Elkin.
Thank you. So MediPharm is the inhospital pharmacy system used in was used in Stanton, Hay River, and Inuvik. It was aged out and no longer supported. So when Stanton came on, we moved to a new system called the BDM, and then the eventual plan was to move Hay River and Inuvik on as well. So Stanton's been completed, Inuvik's been completed last July, and Hay River's scheduled for next year. And that's really within the hospital itself. To answer your question, I don't know if it connects with the private pharmacies. But it's really around pharmacy management and distribution within the hospital and the inventory control to better make use of the staff's time and to be more efficient of mapping pharmaceutical use in the hospital.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. So if somebody in Stanton wants information from Hay River or Inuvik, they can pick up that information and that information in those other two communities would be able to them. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister.
Thank you. Please address the question to Mr. Elkin.
Mr. Elkin.
At this point, I don't know what the inoperability would be between the three sites. I assume since they're on the same system, that's one of the ultimate goals. But right now, they won't be communicating at this point but I think that's the ultimate goal is to be on the same system. I would have to confirm that.
Thank you, Mr. Elkin. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. No, that's all the questions I have.
Thank you. Are there any other further questions on administrative and support services. Seeing none. Health and Social Services administrative and support services infrastructure investment 3,641,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Committee, please turn to page 36, Health and Social Services health and social programs with information on page 37. Questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I see there's the continued funding for the wellness and recovery centre in Yellowknife. This has been in the capital budget a couple years now. But can I just get an update on that project and when we expect construction to start. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you for the question. I'll start, and then I'll turn to Perry; he's to fill in some of the details.
So a design firm has been contracted to provide a design for the facility, and I think they're moving towards having a draft available to share with the department and the people who are going to be most intimately involved in the wellness and recovery centre. The schedule now is for the RFP for construction to go out next year. And I think that the centre itself won't be ready until the end of 2023, the beginning of 2024. But if I don't have those right, Mr. Heath will correct me. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you. Mr. Heath.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister is correct. We're targeting the end of 2023, early 2024 for operationalization of the facility. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Hay River North.
Laughter.
Yellowknife North.
Not planning to move to Hay River any time soon, Madam Chair.
I know there is endless debates about day shelters. Can I just get clarification that the site has been selected, the one beside I'm going to call it beside St. John Ambulance, across from True Value. Is that the site that has been selected. Is that a finalized decision. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
It's I haven't heard that it's that it's finalized, but we're going to have to finalize it soon if we haven't already because we have to apply for a permit to the city. So we can't do that on the basis without having an affirmed location. I'll ask Mr. Heath to confirm where we're at with the site selection.
Thank you. Mr. Heath.
Thank you, Madam Chair. It is our intention to submit a development permit application in the upcoming months for the site that the Member referenced. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I want to ask, can the Minister speak to work being done to make that process easier. I am afraid that we are likely to lose this route with the current council, given their track record, and perhaps there's a way to pull some ropes. I just would welcome the political insights that's happening to make sure that that application development permit is a little smoother. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Yes, thank you. There is a plan to engage people and businesses and residents who live in proximity to the site of the new wellness and recovery centre. We are not under the same kind of time crunch we were with the day shelter. We have time to go through the process and to go through an appeal process if necessary. I can't predict what council's going to do with that. I mean, obviously, we will present all the information we have about the centre and what it's for and who will use it, and we'll just have to wait and see what council makes of all of that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member.
Lastly, Madam Chair, I know we have either purchased or rented or using the Tlicho allseason construction room as a temporary day shelter, which my understanding is intended to run until this one is complete. Can I just get clarification whether that money is found in the capital budget or the O and M budget or whether that's coming forward through a sup. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Yes, thank you. I actually haven't heard which budget this is coming out of so I will ask Mr. Heath for that. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Heath.
