Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are in line with Mr. Blake and Mr. Menicoche. I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services how many communities are without a full-time nurse in their communities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that number is 10: Sachs Harbour, Tsiigehtchic, Colville Lake, Jean Marie River, Kakisa, Nahanni Butte, Trout Lake, Wrigley, Wekweeti and Enterprise. So 10, Mr. Speaker.
So think about it, 10 communities do not have full-time nurses. They have a layperson, CHR, they have nurses come in once a month, if the weather is good, providing the plane is there, the winter road. There are 10 communities that day in and day out have no health centres. I would appreciate the Minister willing to go to bat to look at the model. We need to change the model. He says, “think outside the box.” I think I want to tell the Minister, rather than think outside the box, we need to get out of the box and see what we can do.
I want to ask the Minister, is he willing to commit to the House and to the people in the 10 communities, to this side of the government and this Cabinet here to say we have a plan, we’re willing to do this and we are going to put nurses in one of those communities so that next time it will be nine communities or eight communities? Can the Minister do that?
I’d like to just correct my last remark; it is nine communities. Sachs Harbour does have a nurse in charge and a CHN, so it is nine communities, so good progress there.
Mr. Speaker, it’s a similar response that I’ve had before. We are going to look at the ISDM; we are going to work with the Members and the communities to try and find solutions that work. I can’t commit to putting nurses in those communities at this time because we haven’t done the work. We need to figure out what will work to provide the residents the best care, the best health and the best results that we can. So, I will do that work; we will do that work and we will have those discussions with committee and Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, this Minister works pretty fast. Now he’s down from 10 to nine. I wish he could be the speed of light and then next week we could think about how we could get nurses into our communities and drop those numbers.
Given these nine communities without a permanent nurse, is there any type of analyses done across the communities where there are unique approaches to having full-time nurses and different types of programs that can bring a full-time nurse into the communities, given that the safety and health concern is a balance that this government – we have about a year, or just about 500 days – can put a plan together? I’ve seen magic work in this government. Where they can put a plan together, a business case and say, let’s start on this plan, is that something the Minister is willing to commit to?
Mr. Speaker, I’ve committed to having the department do a review of the ISDM with respect to the mix of professionals in our smaller, more remote communities and I’ll do that. We do need to be clear: all these communities do receive support and do receive health care services from the Department of Health and Social Services and its associated health and social services authorities. Colville Lake, by way of example, has a CHN in there for three days a month from Norman Wells and they do have community health workers, so there is some level of support there.
We are trying to enhance our ability to provide emergency response in those communities, and one of the ways we’re addressing some of those issues is through Med-Response, where the individuals in the community, the CHW, nurses and whatnot, will have a direct link to a doctor or physician, nurse practitioner or nurse who can help them through challenging situations.
We want to do more emergency training in the communities so that people and residents are prepared and ready for emergency response. Those things are going to continue and we need to do those, but we will do a review of the ISDM with respect to the matrix and mix of professionals in the communities and I will share that with Members as we proceed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sometimes the Minister and some of the Ministers have gone to the Sahtu to realize what it’s like to live in the small communities. We can talk about it, but once you get into the small communities, then you really understand, because not everything is in books and written down; you have to experience it. So going into Colville Lake or Tsiigehtchic or Wrigley, the Minister then understands what people have to do on a 24/7 basis.
I want to ask the Minister again, we are talking about a $700 million business case to bring the hydro down south. Let’s look at our folks and look at serving our people first. Let’s put a business case together. You can do it. I know it can be done. That’s why we have you guys over there to put something like this to give us safety and security in our communities and to go back and say for another year we still have nine communities without nurses. I want to ask the Minister, with this commitment within the life of this government, put a nurse in our communities. That’s what we’re asking for. Look at the model and change the model.
I want to ask the Minister, will he do this for the communities that do not have nurses today as we stand here?
Mr. Speaker, we will work with communities; we will work with Members; we will work with committees to find ways to enhance and improve services for all residents of the Northwest Territories, including those in the small communities of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
