Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to speak about a large problem that we’re having in Hay River. For several years now, our local hospital does not have any permanent doctors. Hay River is one of the largest communities in the North and we do not have any permanent doctors. The Hay River hospital is a regional centre that helps out a lot of the members in the community as well as the surrounding communities. The local hospital authority has been working with locums for several years now. I know that the hospital authority has been successful in getting a lot of locums to flow through Hay River. There are some times when we don’t have any doctors.
The lack of permanent doctors is lowering the quality of health care in Hay River. Patients are seeing a different doctor every time they attend the hospital or the medical clinic. The lack of permanent doctors is costing this government more money. Costs are higher when individuals have to be shipped out of the community because there are no doctors to admit them.
I’m asking the territorial government to help the community of Hay River to get permanent doctors.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
