Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today talked about dental surgery services in the NWT and the fact that the Department of Health has worked with the federal government and is now providing dental services through dentists in both Hay River and Inuvik.
My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Now that we’ve worked out this agreement with NIHB, will the department be working with the dentists in Yellowknife to provide similar services here in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I was very pleased that the officials were able to work out an agreement with the federal government and that surgeries have been booked. It started being delivered in Hay River as of Monday. I was hoping to be there for the opening, but I couldn’t make it.
I think what’s really important to note here is that the dispute we had with the federal government was that there are costs associated with dental service, and the federal government is only paying for these non-insured health benefits to our aboriginal population. Dental surgery is not an insured service. I think everybody should know that. GNWT does not pay for dental surgery; that is not part of our health care plan. It is a plan that the federal government provides to aboriginal people of the Territories. That’s one of the reasons.
The other thing is that Stanton Territorial Hospital is over capacity. They are not able to offer the days available in their surgery room to provide this service, whereas Hay River and Inuvik have surgery rooms and surgery staff who are being underused. I think that as a government we need to make sure that, where the service can be provided in regional centres, we encourage that as much as possible. We had a waiting list of about 350 kids in the South Slave area that we needed to address. So that is why we had to push that really hard to get it to happen.
I am willing to look at what’s possible in areas other than Hay River and Inuvik, but the focus right now is to get it done and get it running and reduce the waiting list in the South Slave area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That sounded an awful lot like a no. Yellowknife does have the largest aboriginal population in the Northwest Territories, the largest single population of aboriginals. So there are individuals who live in Yellowknife who would be able to get those advantages. I understand that there is a waiting list in Yellowknife as well and that there are young children who require dental surgery services in Yellowknife who will have to ship out to Edmonton or other locations if we can’t find a way to get it to happen here.
I understand that there are some issues at Stanton, but at the same time I also know that they shut down the operating room for the summers for extended periods of time. So there’s obviously some time to do some surgeries in Stanton if the Minister were willing to work with local dentists.
I guess I’m asking the Minister to commit to working with the local dentists in Yellowknife to arrange to have them provide dental services in the operating room here in Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, the plan is that those who are eligible for non-insured health benefits and dental surgery, from and including Norman Wells and south, will be travelling to Hay River. Until we opened the clinic in Hay River, they had been travelling to Edmonton. Now they will be travelling to Hay River, and they will get their services there.
We need to work on how we best use our facilities. Hay River had a built-in dental surgeon who’s been doing it for 30 years. We had a waiting list there. We need to use that facility. There are no surgeries being done in that hospital, when we are paying for the staff and the facility.
Now, Stanton is an acute care facility. They have to do the work that we need to get done under the health care benefits for the entire population. It is a different kind of hospital, and I believe that if we can deliver services in centres other than Yellowknife, we need to do that, because we’re paying for this.
That still sounds like a no. I don’t quite understand why the Minister isn’t willing to work with the dentists in Yellowknife to provide these services in Yellowknife. I understand the importance of providing it to the other communities as well. I’m not suggesting we stop, but the lists are large, and there are dentists here who are qualified to do this work and are willing to do this work.
At the risk of repeating myself, I think I’ll ask a very similar question. Will the Minister work with the local dentists to find a way to provide oral dental surgeries in Yellowknife as well as the other communities?
Mr. Speaker, once again I want to state that dental surgery is not an insured service. Government does not provide that service. The federal government provides the services to our aboriginal population, and we are trying to accommodate that. Having said that, Yellowknife has a very vibrant and very reputable dentist and dental surgeon population. Anywhere else in Canada dental surgeries are provided by private clinics. There’s no reason why the private clinics in Yellowknife couldn’t look at opening that. If the dentists and dental professionals in Yellowknife want to talk to me and work with me — and I’d like to work with them — to see if that’s at all possible…. I believe Yellowknife, better than any community in the NWT, has the room for private clinics and private business. All other people who need dental surgery will be covered by third party insurance, other than the government and other than NIHB.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I want some clarification on that response that was just provided. It sounds an awful lot like you’re telling me that this government will work with dental surgeons in Inuvik and Fort Smith to provide them with facilities for their oral surgeons, but if you happen to be a dentist in Yellowknife, no, we’re not going to help you; do it on your own. Is that kind of what you’re telling me now, Ms. Minister?
Mr. Speaker, I’m willing to explain as long as I need to, to get the point across. What I’m saying is that any dentist in the Territories could provide this service for those residents who are eligible under NIHB, which gets funding from the federal government. A vast majority of the population in the Territories gets employee benefits, or it’s a private practice situation. We are covered by third party insurance.
Because we have facilities in Inuvik and Hay River that are not being used that the government is paying for, we are looking at opening a facility there. Yellowknife is over capacity. Stanton is fully used at all times. The most they could offer is a one day surgery capacity every eight weeks, whereas Hay River can offer it 10 weeks in a row. In order for us to use our money as best as possible, it makes sense for us to do it in Hay River now. I’m prepared to look at Yellowknife, but with the variables right now, it’s better for Hay River.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
