Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, we are having concerns in Hay River about the new health centre and what’s not going into it. I have questioned the Minister on this in the past, about the 10 long-term beds. Can I get an answer from the Minister of Health and Social Services on what he has done since the beginning, what he and the department have done for a solution for the 10 long-term beds in Hay River?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The very first process to adding long-term care beds to Hay River would be to go through the capital planning process. I’ve had discussions with the executive and the Department of Health and Social Services about initiating the initial discussions that are needed at the senior bureaucratic level to talk about adding this project to the capital plan for the GNWT. Thank you.
I have a question on the Minister’s answer. I’m wondering if the Minister has indicated to the executive that this is a priority, this is something that we feel that Hay River has been left out of the process somewhere along the line. They designed a new health centre and excluded the 10 long-term beds that are currently in the hospital.
Has the department and himself stressed the fact that there is some shortage that is going to be happening very soon once the new facility is open?
Mr. Speaker, the department is aware that the long-term care right across the Territories is a priority. We are doing various things like trying to get the current long-term care beds up to full staffing. Also, we are adding long-term care beds within the overall system.
Long-term care is a territorial program, so even though long-term care exists in Hay River, there are other long-term care beds where we are expanding. Yes, we are doing what we can to make sure that the department does understand that long-term care is a priority. Thank you.
I respect the Minister’s answer and I understand the long-term beds solution throughout the North, but we are dealing with Hay River, one of the largest centres in the Northwest Territories. I am hoping the Minister’s statement doesn’t mean that he’s looking at putting Hay River residents elsewhere.
Is there a commitment from the department? I know the Minister of Health has indicated, in a public speech, that they are looking at solutions in Hay River for those 10 long-term beds.
Mr. Speaker, the plan is not to move people that are from Hay River that require long-term care into long-term care beds outside of Hay River. All the long-term care needs in Hay River will be addressed within Hay River. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my statement, I am just a little bit bewildered that we’re making a 50-year plan without some of these answers already being made.
My question is to the Minister of Health. Has the existing hospital, the old hospital, been part of their assessment for keeping the long-term care beds in Hay River? Have they included that in their assessment?
Mr. Speaker, no, we had not assessed H.H. Williams as a long-term care only facility. We had assumed that when the new health care was built, all of the services would leave the Hay River current H.H. Williams Hospital. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
