Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Although I know that the Housing Corporation will be building independent living housing for seniors in Fort Good Hope in 2014-15 and that there’s a schedule already set out by the Housing Corporation and they’re working with the community of Fort Good Hope, I’m hoping that all plans are on target and that construction would begin, with elders moving into the facility in the spring of 2015. I wanted to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services about the programs and services of that facility.
Will there be plans to train some additional staff members, maybe one or two that would support the facility in Fort Good Hope?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just confirmed with the Minister of Housing that that project is definitely going ahead. They’re going to be starting during this fiscal year. I’ll leave it to the Minister to confirm the actual opening date, but the Department of Health and Social Services, the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority and the Housing Corporation are collaborating on the development and programming for the new independent living units. A common area has been identified and incorporated into the design of the new housing units, and in the plans it is proposed that seniors day programs and health and personal care services will be delivered in that area through the new independent serviced seniors living unit. This will be assessed in 2014 by the department and the health and social services authority, and the department will work with the authority to determine the best range of services to the clients to be delivered in that area. At that time I’ll be able to give the Member more detail. Thank you.
In our planning for our elders and our long-term care facility in Norman Wells, which is going to happen for a territorial long-term care facility, we also have this additional independent senior housing unit in Fort Good Hope.
Can the Minister inform me if it makes sense to look at the training or this training happens in the upcoming years, that the residents in Fort Good Hope will also have the opportunity if the training is assessed and that they can also be tagged on to the training program that is scheduled for the territorial long-term care facility that is going to be located in Norman Wells?
Until we do the analysis of that facility and the programs that will be delivered there, it’s hard to give a definite yes. I can say that it may be possible for us to deliver personal care and coordination of the programs in the Fort Good Hope independent living unit using existing home care staff in the community. However, if additional staff are required through the analysis that’s being done, we’re happy to work with our training partners, such as Aurora College, in the community to coordinate training for future staff.
Looking at the schedule from the Housing Corporation, the seniors are expected to move into the independent seniors facility in Fort Good Hope in the spring of 2015, I believe.
I want to ask, do we have enough time, I guess, to say, yes, we can look at an additional one or two staff members, given that there is going to be a caretaker there, and that we also need to have some kind of medical personnel at that site also?
We will continue to work with the Sahtu health and social services in the community and identify the needs for the community with respect to the new independent living unit. Where additional resources are required, we will plan for them through the normal business cycle, which will give us time to have positions in place if necessary and required in the ’15-16 fiscal year.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
