Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the unedited Hansard of October 3 the Minister of Health and Social Services stated that “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.” Not necessarily.
In the South the way it works is very few clinics actually have these specialty services. Most clinics are like the clinics in the Northwest Territories. There are indeed specialist clinics that do it, and I think it’s unreasonable to expect that the clinics in Yellowknife — as opposed to the clinics in Hay River and Inuvik, which are basically the same as the clinics in Yellowknife — can take on that capacity. I think our solution to ensuring that our children are getting the dental surgery they need is to open up time in Stanton.
To that end, I’d like the Minister to commit today to at least opening the one day every eight weeks that they have available as well as any scheduled drop time, when they shut down the wards for regular surgeries, and provide that time to the dentists in Yellowknife so that they can work with the dentists in Hay River and Inuvik to reduce this backlog of children who are suffering from oral problems and require dental surgery.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not able to commit to having this program be established at Stanton for the reasons that I’ve indicated earlier. It’s the Stanton authority that feels that given all the demands of the services that they have to provide…. They have to provide insured services first; they have to be able to provide surgeries and other procedures that Stanton has to deliver that other hospitals in the Territories cannot. So that is their first priority.
But I am willing to make a commitment to the Member that I will revisit this issue, including the one day every eight weeks that Stanton has available and what other options there might be. I will give a commitment to the Member that I will look at all options again and get back to the Member as to what the situation is.
That sounds like a definite maybe.
In moving forward, I’d like to encourage the Minister to actually contact the local dentists and work with the local dentists as well as the individuals that the department has worked with previously in Hay River to find a solution. I think it would be easy, at a minimum, to do the one day every eight weeks as well as any drop time. Will the Minister commit to communicating and talking with the local dentists on this issue?
I guess this is easy as long as we have an unlimited amount of money. That’s something we do not have. We know that Stanton has been experiencing a huge level of deficit. We have programs that we are obliged to provide. Dental service is not an insured service of this government. This is why it is not able to be provided at Stanton.
The secondary issue is that we do need to use all of our facilities. This is something that Hay River can provide, and we want to concentrate those services in Hay River for the south and Inuvik in the north. There are lots of details that I need to work through, but a definite maybe? I’m saying yes to revisiting this issue, because I understand that I need to be able to account for the decisions that I make. I will look at it right through again and report back to the Member as to what all the options are that we have available.
I like yeses. Yeses are good. I’d obviously like to hear her tell me today that she is actually going to communicate with the local dentists and whatnot. Just as a note, I don’t think the insured services are different in Hay River and Inuvik, so we’re not talking different prices there.
There are savings to the Government of the Northwest Territories to move forward and provide these surgeries to kids. Hay River has indicated to me that they’re quite happy, but they’re overwhelmed. They’re not able to move forward on these oral surgeries as quickly as they’d like. We do need to do something different. Once again I’d like to hear the Minister say that she’s going to do it and not that she’s maybe going to do it. I’d like to hear her definitely say that she is going to work with the local dentists to find a resolution to these problems.
The problem has never been with the local dentists. Obviously, the dentists would be happy if the government provided a service and facility to provide their services. That is not really the issue. The issue is putting the burden on…. I understand that this is a huge issue for parents with children who need to have dental surgery. What we need to remember is that health care costs are under pressure. We can’t do everything for everybody. And when we have limited dollars, we have do what we are required to do by our health insurance program. Dental surgery is not one of them. We as a legislature have to make choices about what services we’re going to provide and not.
Secondary, I think that’s an important thing. We as a Legislature have to decide how to use our resources. If we can maximize the use of other facilities, then we need to consider that. I’m willing to consult with any stakeholders to see how we can make this work, and I’m willing to get back to the Member on that.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The children are our future, and by dealing with their oral issues now and getting their teeth healthy and their gums healthy and their mouths healthy, we’re actually going to save ourselves a lot of money down the road. When they get older and they have poor oral health, they’ll be sick people. Obviously, I want her to continue.
I’m curious. I’ve seen the photos. Has the Minister seen the photos of these young children with their mouths full of sores and wounds that pus out where their teeth used to be? Has she shared that with her Cabinet colleagues? I think that if they were to see these pictures, they would understand the ramifications of not taking action on these issues.
Yes, I have. I was the Minister who was in the room with yourself, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Hay River North. I am the Minister and the department who worked to get this program re-established in Hay River. We understand the needs. It’s not about who needs to do what. This is not a government health insurance program. We need to consider how we’re using our dollars, and this is what I’m doing. I will get back to the Member after I’ve revisited this issue.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
