Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to the issue that was raised by my colleague and myself from Hay River, I would like to ask my questions to the Minister of Public Works and Services. Knowing that Hay River is going to be in need of long-term care beds, I would like to ask the Minister if the existing hospital could be considered as one of the options for a long-term care facility for Hay River. It is strategically located on a beautiful green space. The rooms in acute care and extended care are very large. There are ample developed home-like common areas. There’s a very expensive and large kitchen and cafeteria there for residents that would need to take their meals there. There’s lots of parking. There’s a very well-located security desk that would allow you to see everybody coming and going. It would just seem that if this building could be re-profiled as a long-term care facility, it’s worth looking into and I’d like to ask the Minister if his department would undertake a technical review of the building.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Glen Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As with all assets that belong to a department, once the Department of Health and Social Services vacates it, it will become the responsibility of Public Works and Services, who will do a technical assessment on the building to figure out if there is any future for that building and whether it can actually be used for other purposes, then it would enter the normal process for disposal which may include, or could include, re-profiling. We would have to do a technical assessment on the building, figure out what it is, factor in deferred maintenance, costs of operating, all those types of costs. Through the normal disposal process, that will be done.
That is not the answer I was hoping for. There is no place for these folks to go if they vacate the building. We can’t wait until after the building is vacated and then start doing an assessment of whether or not it could be used as a long-term care facility. There are no other 10 long-term care beds in Hay River and we certainly don’t want to be shipping our people out of Hay River to other communities. We know that the years pass quickly in this place and the new facility will be open, it will be upon us. If we’re going to look at this as an option, this assessment would need to start to take place now. I would like to ask the Minister what it would take to get that ruling, a request from the Department of Health and Social Services. What would it take?
A request from Health and Social Services wouldn’t hurt.
So if the Department of Health and Social Services wanted to consider this facility as an option – I say an option because I don’t want to pre-empt other options but I just know how capital dollars work around here, I know how tight they can be. If the Department of Health and Social Services made a request, Public Works and Services would begin to look at the structure, the utility of this building as a long-term care facility, and prepare a report as soon as possible.
An analysis of this magnitude would actually cost some money so we would have to actually look for some money as well, which means we may have to come back to the House seeking some dollars to do that.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not one that’s normally in favour of a lot of studies and reviews, but in this case, I would support that.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Comment. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
