Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Range Lake families with adopted children are struggling to get their loved ones the support and care they need once they go -- once they age into adulthood. Their disabilities and circumstances are no fault of their own and yet they are not being supported by the system. Does the Minister of Health and Social Services agree that families with adopted adult children have a right to the care they need regardless of their ability? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the digital age dawned so long ago that now our kids are almost born with a smartphone in hand and could not ever contemplate a world without high-speed internet. Indeed, our kids are now teaching us how to use our own laptops and phones. Yet, here in the NWT where the latest generation of health care professionals enter the workforce, they are forced into the way-back machine to relearn obsolete technology. Why? It's because NTHSSA still sends most diagnostic imaging onto CD-ROMs while other jurisdictions continue to upgrade dedicated medical communication networks. Using CDs to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Member's willingness to share information with this side of the House, and I'll take her up on that at the appropriate time when it's available.

Mr. Speaker, the diagnostic imaging partner site is in Calgary. So we send our requests to Calgary, they send it up to us, we put it on a disk, it goes back to Edmonton. Can the Minister look to find a new partner in Edmonton so we're -- because the systems in Calgary and Edmonton don't talk to each other either. So we have multiple systems in multiple jurisdictions that aren't talking to each other. So can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it took years to implement the current EMR system across the Northwest Territories. My concern is that this RFP won't go far enough to correct the issues that nurses and doctors are experiencing. So can the Minister reassure our health care workers that this RFP will address these concerns throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Ms. Tarlson's grade 8 class from Range Lake North, which is a school in my riding. Great to see you here today, and it was lovely to speak with you before the session. Go Hoyas.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, October 31st, 2024, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that the House call on the Auditor General of Canada to conduct a performance audit of all aspects of the management of the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority in its delivery of health care services, including medical travel and the recruitment and retention of nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals, and to prioritize this investigation;

And furthermore, that the Speaker formally transmit...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, nurses and doctors have to deal with as many as three systems, not just one. Only -- I think only one of them is electronic. The other two are paper systems. So what is the Minister's -- will these changes phase out paper? Let's just leave it limited on Stanton where a lot -- a great deal of these issues are creating bottlenecks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, the NWT has no access to -- does not have access to a medical communication system that's vital for diagnostic imaging which requires health care professionals to put scans on disks and then send it down with patients on appointments on medical travel. Can the Minister speak to what her plan is to resolve this so we can bring our health care system into the modern era. Thank you?

Mr. Speaker, several of my constituents were medivaced recently with life-threatening illnesses and were denied escorts because medical travel does not cover escorts for emergency circumstances, and reimbursements for their family members were denied. These escorts are vital in understanding the plan of care for their loved ones who were in an incapacitated state. But it's not policy to allow escorts for emergency medivac situations. I've raised this before. The Minister gave me some assurances that there would be a path forward. Now it appears that path has closed. Can the Minister commit to...

Thank you. And it's the -- does the territorial fire centre factor into those recommendations as well? Thank you.