Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that recent developments of the H1N1 swine flu shows how fast it can affect people and, God forbid, communities, Mr. Speaker, and given other medical conditions deteriorate in a matter of months, will the government commit to providing double the doctor visits and detailed in policies with the Minister of Health and Social Services in our small and remote communities? I’m not just talking about Nunakput, Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about the Beaufort-Delta and Nahendeh and Tu Nedhe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently for the Beaufort-Delta region, doctors’ visits are scheduled for every five weeks. I do understand that under certain circumstances and weather conditions that doctors’ visits are longer than five weeks. Part of the Foundation for Change Action Plan speaks to an NWT medical model where we could have more flexibility to enhance doctor coverage in small communities and I look forward to working with the Members on the other side through that process so that we can enhance doctor coverage, especially in small communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we’ve been pretty flexible lately. These past two years I’ve been here trying to work with her and she is doing a good job, Mr. Speaker. Given that the medical staff is in demand all over Canada and the Northwest Territories, and the small, remote communities are always left behind during staffing problems, Mr. Speaker, I’m asking the Minister of Health and Social Services to provide Nunakput a listing of how many medical positions have been budgeted for Nunakput, and how many positions are vacant, and what the ministry to planning on doing in response to the additional strain placed on the system during these demanding times. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I agree that the Member has been flexible for the last two years. What I meant is that our medical model is not as flexible to respond to the needs of our communities. Mr. Speaker, right now we don’t have a permanent doctor in our NWT communities and regions other than Yellowknife and Inuvik. In all other places, even if there are doctor PYs funded, we’re just not able to have permanent doctor residents. We’re lucky in the Beaufort-Delta that we have Dr. De Klerk and his staff and he attracts a following, so to speak. I believe there are about six to seven doctor positions there. The challenge is recruiting and retaining them. So when I’m talking about flexibility, the physicians have shown interest in creating an NWT medical model so that we could hire doctors and then give them incentive to travel to smaller communities so that we could have better coverage. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, my people in my riding don’t see doctors probably within six months, say, for Sachs Harbour. I have two elders sitting in Edmonton in the hospital because of not being seen properly and it being dragged out.
Shame.
So now they’re having to be in long-term care, one of them, and one of them is going to take months for his recovery, Mr. Speaker. This is unacceptable. This government, we have to...She has to take the lead and direct her staff to get into the communities for longer periods of time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I was in Sachs Harbour with the Member when we discussed this. I believe they had some issues with flight schedules and such, so they didn’t have a doctor right before last Christmas for about two months.
Mr. Speaker, the rule is that all of the communities in the Beaufort-Delta have to have a doctor in five weeks. They know the rule and they are to follow that, and when they are not able to do that, they need to step up to the plate.
The second thing is, Mr. Speaker, we do have a good Medical Travel Policy, where there is no doctor coverage in the communities, nursing staff is tasked to examine the patient and make the referral.
I do appreciate the Member’s concern. We need to keep on working to improve the system. The Foundation for Change Action Plan has very precise action plans that will work to advance this further. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These next few months would be really serious in regards to the H1N1 flu pandemic. I really wish that...No, I’m not going to wish; I’m going to tell her, Mr. Speaker. I want my people to be treated just like people are down here in the South Slave in regard to doctor visits and being taken care of properly. Thank you.
With respect to H1N1, I need people to know that when they’re watching the national media, the only thing they need to get out of that is we are doing much better than down south.
Mr. Speaker, it’s really important for people to know that we have enough vaccine for everybody who needs it, wants it, in the NWT at hand. We’re not looking for any other supplies, so no one has to wait for Christmas. We’re not asking anybody to hold back. In fact, we are asking people to go in and get vaccinated, so that’s another message.
The third one is, everyone is a priority in the NWT. We have no priority list. I just need people to know this, Mr. Speaker.
With respect to small communities on the H1N1 issue, I realize that the most media coverage is on vaccination of Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Norman Wells. But I would like the Members to know that this week we began vaccinating in 14 other communities beyond those six communities. So right now, in day four, we are vaccinating in 20 out of 33 communities and those include: Deline, Fort Good Hope, Fort McPherson, Fort Resolution, Hay River Reserve, Jean Marie River, Lutselk’e, Sachs Harbour, Tsiigehtchic, Tulita, Whati and Wrigley. So I just want the Member to know that we’re working all out to cover small communities, and obviously it’s not possible to vaccinate 40,000 people at once, but our people are certainly trying. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
