Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement earlier today on addictions and the closing of the Nats’ejee K’eh. This is the first opportunity I think the public has had to hear some of the rationale behind the Minister and the department as to the closing of this addictions facility, and really what is the plan of action for addiction treatment to follow in the Northwest Territories. We all know the issues. I’m not going to go into a long preamble because I do have a long list of questions, which probably will require a couple of times of going up to the table here.
So the Minister’s press release on July 11, 2013, cites, “The department decided not to renew the” Nats’ejee K’eh “contract based on strong recommendations flowing from the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness...”
Can the Minister point out the page number or paragraph in this report that supports this press release statement? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister’s forum didn’t exactly advise us to close Nats’ejee K’eh. What it says was that we need to find alternatives for treatment such as on-the-land treatment, mobile treatment, treatment targeted for youth, so we’re moving in that direction. This also pertains to what was happening in Nats’ejee K’eh. The closure of Nats’ejee K’eh was largely to do with what was happening within Nats’ejee K’eh at the time of the closure, or the elimination of the contract. Thank you.
So we just heard from the Minister that it’s quite clear that there were no recommendations flowing from the Minister’s forum clearly indicating the closure of this facility. This was another approach that the Minister and Department of Health have come to on their own, in terms of what they were going to do with this facility. So, again, I think the public needs to hear that up right and centre.
I guess to lead into another question based on my Member’s statement, what is the plan now for medical detox? This is a clinical intervention that is required during the early stages of the pyramid of treatment. So what are the plans for medical detox in the Northwest Territories and when will it be offered and where? Thank you.
Thank you. There wasn’t medical detox occurring at Nats’ejee K’eh, number one. People were on a waiting list and they had to wait for six weeks in community counselling before they get to Nats’ejee K’eh. So there was no actual medical detox occurring in Nats’ejee K’eh.
Medical detox is available at the hospitals and individuals can be given hospital beds for medical detox based upon requests. At this time if individuals need medical detoxification outside of the hospital environment, then our option is to send that individual or individuals who are requiring medical detox to the southern treatment facilities. Thank you.
Thank you. I concur there was no medical detox occurring at Nats’ejee K’eh, but the question of medical detox has been asked many times in this House. We’ve been promised here that there will be beds put aside we’ve heard in Yellowknife, we’ve also heard in Inuvik. But you go to the hospital and you ask the question, can you take me to the medical detox bed, and they’ll say we don’t know what you’re talking about. There is no sign on the door that says “medical detox bed”. There are such beds put aside in the event of capacity issues, yet are never used.
So, leading to another question here: What is available to help people addicted to prescription drugs, to crack cocaine or solvents? What are we doing with those types of individuals who require that assistance? Thank you.
What’s available are the contracts that we obtained or signed with southern institutions in Alberta and British Columbia. So if individuals are suffering from addictions, whether it be crack cocaine, prescription drugs, alcohol, marijuana, or anything else that they may be addicted to, there are options for them to go to the four southern treatment facilities that we have contracts with now. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the Minister has kind of led into my other question here where he talked about the southern four providers that are now currently under contract. Can we maybe get an indication as to how many residents have used these southern farmed-out services, and of those who started the program down there, how many of them have actually completed it?
I don’t have the number of individuals that have taken advantage of the four treatment centres that we have contracts with in the South; however, I do know that when individuals have approached Health and Social Services, whether it be through a wellness office in their community or through the department or through one of the authorities, that it’s been fairly quick. The process is very quick and the individual is able to go out for treatment in a very short time basis, and that is what we were trying to achieve. But the numbers of the people that went and the numbers that had completed the treatment facilities, I don’t have those numbers here with me today.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
