Debates of June 13, 2012 (day 15)
QUESTION 150-17(3): NEED FOR FULL-TIME NURSE IN TSIIGEHTCHIC
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last 15 years the community of Tsiigehtchic has been pleading to get a nurse in the community. I’d like to ask the Minister: Will the Minister be willing to put in place a licenced practical nurse in Tsiigehtchic?
---Applause
Order! I know everybody’s excited today. It’s our second-last sitting day. We still have to maintain order. Mr. Beaulieu has the floor. Continue, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. We are doing a full review of the integrated service model. It’s essentially a delivery model that tries to provide primary care services to each community, from the smallest community to the largest community. We’re actually having a discussion with the Joint Leadership Council, which are the chairs and the public administrators of all of the health authorities, and we are talking about trying to provide something more permanent in Tsiigehtchic. Thank you.
Would the Minister be willing to do, as a pilot project, have in place in Tsiigehtchic a licenced practical nurse? Thank you.
We are currently with the MLAs from Beaufort-Delta to try to put a Beaufort-Delta health advisory council together that will work with the public administrator or with the chair, one of the systems. We haven’t made our final decision yet, until we review the terms of reference the JLC this week. We’re hoping to then provide the terms of reference to the Beaufort-Delta MLAs within that forum. Without pre-empting the decisions that those individuals on that council would make, I’d like to say that this is one of the things that we will look at very closely, where we’ve heard Members that there is a need for permanent nursing services in the small communities, and we’re trying to do that. We are trying to provide permanent full-time nursing services in communities that don’t have it. Thank you.
Will the Minister assure the community of Tsiigehtchic that this position will be in place within the next year? Thank you.
I would like to say that, but at the same time, I would also like the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority to be involved in the decision. This is what we’re working on, and we’re saying we want to provide you with an opportunity to make that decision, and working with that integrated service model, that we want to be able to say that, yes, we can do that. We know that there is more that we can do in the community. Maybe providing service out of the two neighbouring communities is not sufficient, as the people have said. We’re taking a very close look at that right now. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds promising. I heard a yes in there somewhere. I’d just like to let the Minister know that I’m more than willing to work with the Minister, and I look forward to the next couple of months here. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.