Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to the extended care facilities and questions for the Minister of Health.
Mr. Speaker, construction costs for the extended care facility will likely move upwards with a sixyear delay. Will the Minister confirm if her department has considered this in their decision when delaying the project and any idea of what that cost may be? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cost estimate that is currently available has a contingency built into it. But there's a very important "but." If the site changes and it is no longer going to be where the old HH Williams Hospital was and it's now going to be over near the new health centre, getting the land ready for the construction has not been factored into that cost and so those costs may, in fact, rise. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the delay, like, we're going to need beds for you know, for people who are going to be requiring them in the next six years. So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm what the plan is for the older portion of Woodland Manor as we will need well, we will need those beds. And my understanding from past discussions is that it will require major repairs, such as roofing, mechanical, and interior upgrades if we delay this project. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the question. My understanding is that there was an addition built on Woodland Manor and opened in 2018 to provide nine new rooms that were previously part of HH Williams Hospital, which was at that point being phased out. So there's the newer part and the older part. The older part has a life of approximately ten years remaining. And to verify that, we have asked the Department of Infrastructure to do a technical evaluation next spring on the existing Woodland Manor to confirm the useful life it has left.
Now, if the new longterm care is not attached to Woodland Manor, then likely the money will go to the new longterm care rather than to Woodland Manor. This is going to have to be resolved through the bed allocation because as the Member has said, we're looking at I think it's a 24bed facility for Hay River. So if we're going to take the current Woodland Manor offline, we would have to account for those residents plus the number that we've already committed to.
The last thing I'll say about this is that the current waitlist in Hay River is four. So it is, while a problem for those four families, not a problem that we can't solve with the current projection. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I understand that, you know, the waitlist, it might be short but in six years, you know, I might be on it. So, Mr. Speaker, if the project is delayed in 20272028, will the Minister confirm what additional funds will be provided to the Hay River Health and Social Services to expand home care supports and services while we are waiting for a facility? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member better watch out or maybe by then I'll be a personal support worker helping him get in and out. So just pray that doesn't happen.
So what we've been able to do to supplement home care is provide funding for three additional positions in the last two years so that there is more staff available because, in fact, there are greater demands for that. The detail there is that's two home care nurses and a home support worker. The additional nursing position has enabled us to create more hours of service. So the service hours are now 8:30 to 4:30 seven days a week. We've also got the Paid Family Caregiver Program active in Hay River, and that is in place for this fiscal year and next. So we have a variety of supports that are available, and more are likely to come as we go further into implementing the home care review, which was completed in 2019. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if delaying the project to 20272028 will trigger a reevaluation of the number of beds required, possibly an increase from 24 up to 48 of 60? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the reason that the bed evaluation was redone is because we had better information from ten years of data as well as better population projections. Following the reevaluation, we committed to further reevaluations every four years. So there is every possibility that the number will change. And we will build the facility to meet the need that we know of, the most recent need that we know of.
One of the reasons that Hay River bed size went down is because it turned out there was a greater need in Fort Smith so it made sense to build two longterm care facilities, one in Hay River and one in Fort Smith, so that people could continue to live as close to home as possible. We understand that that's a priority and that home care assists with that priority, which is part of our mandate.
I also just want to mention, for those people who are on waiting lists anywhere in the territory that has a longterm care facility, there are respite beds available that families can book if they need a longer-term break. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
