Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It gets back to my Member’s statement from earlier today and one I made last week pertaining to deficits being run up at the various health authorities across the Northwest Territories.
In the past three years, the Minister said she has been in her position as Minister of Health and Social Services and brought in new management teams and a new DM. She has also brought in deficit-fighting plans that never seem to see the light of day and aren’t being implemented whatsoever. I would like to ask the Minister, the first question I have -- and again I don’t want to be very specific to Stanton, although that is where the biggest deficit is -- is: What is the projected deficit at Stanton Territorial Health Authority come March 2011 and what is the system-wide deficit for the health authorities on March 2011? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The projected deficit for Stanton at the end of 2011 is $10,185,663 and the system-wide deficit projected for 2011 is $16,860,299. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure where the Minister is getting that information. That is not the same information that was provided to Regular Members. Perhaps she is doing some creative subtraction when she is trying to arrive at that number. Where exactly is she getting those numbers that she is providing the House with? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I answered the question the Member asked, which is what is the projected deficit for Stanton and the system-wide deficit at the end of 2010-11. I don’t know what information he has. Maybe he is thinking about accumulated deficit.
Obviously, this is a number that we are projecting. Mr. Speaker, this is a serious matter that I am willing to discuss and exchange information with the Member on. I don’t think anybody is doing any creative math here. All the facts are out. We presented to the Members on the other side all the information we have. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, much of the deficit at Stanton and across the various health authorities relates back to poor billing practices and an inability for the government to collect on accounts receivable. I’d like to ask the Minister if she could provide the House with current numbers on accounts receivable or for Stanton Territorial Health Authority and the system in its entirety. Thank you.
The Member is right; the accounts receivable is one of the factors, but it’s not the biggest or the largest cost driver. I’m pleased to advise the House that it’s this government and this Minister that has signed an agreement. We have now a written agreement with the Nunavut government. We negotiated for two years and we signed in February of 2010. Most of the receivables we have with Nunavut are current. We have an outstanding amount with respect to Nunavut residents we have in extended care, because there were no real written agreements for the last 10 years. So we have finalized that, we have moved forward.
There are a number of steps. The Member is right when he said in his Member’s statement that unless we change the system, we will have a sustainability problem. That’s what I’ve been saying for the last year. We’re working on system change for sustainability. The deficit is not just about dollars, it’s about how we run our system and we need to make sure... And I’m not playing on the heartstrings of anybody; I think that nobody here has any tolerance for reducing services, nor do the people out there. So it is really important that we make system changes so that our resources are used efficiently and that our resources are allocated appropriately and all of the management in the department, all of the authorities, all of the chairs and CEOs are very engaged in seeing how we move forward on that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. I guess I haven’t been here as long as I have been, seven years. I’m very sceptical when it comes to any Minister of Health and Social Services standing up in this House saying that anything is going to happen. I’ve heard it from former Ministers, I’ve heard it from this Minister. The bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is nothing has happened and I know the Minister has embarked on this Foundation for Change and I wish her well in that and I hope that does answer some questions, but I believe wholeheartedly that it’s a system-wide fix that we need here.
I’d like to ask the Minister if the department and the Government of the Northwest Territories are intent on looking at how we deliver health care in the Northwest Territories, and the current makeup of our authority system, and whether or not, given the impact on cost and the escalation on cost, are we looking at a model that is going to be more conducive to ensuring that what dollars we have to spend on health are going to get spent efficiently and effectively. Thank you.
The Member is exactly right in what he’s saying and I want to let the Member know that, in fact, a lot is being done. It’s not correct to say that nothing’s being done. We are looking at the governance model and we will have a proposal on that in the spring. We are reviewing the business process design, because we want to right size the budget for the authorities. We’re reviewing the Medical Travel Program, which is one of the biggest cost drivers in terms of deficit, with increasing demands all the time. So we don’t want to reduce service, but we want to see how we can do that better.
Physicians are involved in the physician service review, which is our largest cost driver. So there are lots of reviews being done with a view of how do we change the system in a smart way, in a seamless way and a productive way, so that we don’t shock the system, but that we make long-term changes. So the Foundation for Change, the three pillars there are sustainability, wellness and access, because we need to work on all three together. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
