Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other day the Minister of Human Resources issued a news release announcing that the GNWT continues to develop and implement an array of recruitment and retention initiatives to strengthen the public service and create employment opportunities throughout the Northwest Territories. I fully support this approach but it will not work unless all departments are on the same page.
My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. At a time when recruitment and retention could not be more important, why is it emblazoned in red writing across the Department of Health and Social Services’ career website, Practice North, that, “New applications to the DHSS recruitment and retention programs are suspended effective immediately until such time as the human resource strategic plan is complete”?
Does the Department of Health and Social Services not share the same commitment to recruitment and retention as the Minister of Human Resources? Can the Minister explain that?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are committed to developing a good, solid, quality workforce here in the Northwest Territories of health professionals and allied health professionals, but the bottom line is when I became the Minister of Health and Social Services, I did have an opportunity to meet with the division which had recently moved over to HR. There were a number of questions about the effectiveness of our program, and continuing to spend dollars for no effect did not seem like a prudent course of action, so I actually directed the department to begin the development of a comprehensive strategic plan or HR plan for the recruitment and retention of health professionals. I have committed to sharing that with my colleagues across the way. But rather than run programs that don’t work and waste money, I thought it was better, and my colleagues thought it was better, to suspend the programs until such time as we could design a program that meets the needs to develop the workforce of the Department of Health and Social Services and authorities.
But as a note, regardless of our HR plan, we do continue to support interns within the department and the authorities, and we do continue to recruit qualified health professionals across the Northwest Territories.
It’s difficult to understand how we can recruit when we’ve got no program here. What recruitment and retention program specifically does this moratorium apply to? Does it include community health nurse development programs or does it include others? Can the Minister be a bit more specific?
It actually includes a number of programs. Over the years we had given out a significant number of bursaries and there is limited data as to whether we were actually getting any return of service on those bursaries and whether we were getting good value for money, so we have continued the bursaries for those individuals that are in nursing programs and other allied programs now, so those individuals that are in are covered, but we have suspended any future intake until we have an opportunity to do a comprehensive analysis to make sure that we are getting value for money.
The Community Health Nurse Development Program is a program that we’re very, very committed to in the department, and it is actually fully subscribed at this point, but we have suspended any future intake until we have an opportunity to review that program to make sure that we are getting good value for money. It is a very expensive program and there may be ways we could partner with authorities to get better effect and get better value for money. We do have people in it, but we have suspended intake until we can actually make sure this program is giving us the value for money that Members regularly ask for.
Can the Minister inform us: Is the department in the habit of putting a halt on its public initiatives whenever it has to get its own homework done? How long has this moratorium been in place? How long is it going to be intended to be in effect?
It has been in effect for a couple months. I’ve been the Minister of Health and Social Services for four months now and it was one of the things that I looked at when I came into the department, because health human resource recruitment is one of the areas that’s obviously important. I’d like to have a strong workforce here in the Northwest Territories.
However, I will check the letter I sent to committee to confirm the date that we did actually suspend these programs temporarily. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How is the public, specifically people trying to seek careers in the health field, supposed to understand what programs they can apply for and when, when it’s clear even the Members on this side of the House don’t even understand what the heck is going on here? Can the Minister offer some clarity, not only to us but to the people out there holding resumes for the health care sector? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Recruitment is ongoing on a regular basis for the positions we have in the health and social services system across the Northwest Territories. Every day we’re hiring nurses and other allied health professionals. The division that has suspended some programs is more in the planning area around providing incentives for Northerners to pursue careers, and we have provided significant numbers of bursaries. We have had programs like the Community Health Development Program and the intent is good, but we need to make sure that we’re getting value for money. If we’re spending money on bursaries and getting no return for service, we need to make sure that we look at those programs, stop spending or giving out the dollars until we can have a program that meets the needs of our residents and provides an opportunity or incentive to actually return the service that we were hoping to get. An initial review shows there is clearly some question as to whether or not we’re getting value for money for those programs.
We continue to recruit daily. We continue to fill positions across the Northwest Territories. We are committed to the health and social services system and we will continue to recruit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
