Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to my Member’s statement regarding the decision to formulate a committee, the Territorial Admissions Committee, to oversee the administration and processes of individuals to long-term care facilities.
Mr. Speaker, I believe we have to have a fair and equitable system in regards to accessibility of programs and services with regard to persons who need it. We also have to be aware that there are cultural and social needs, individual needs, with regard to the regions they come from and based on their diets, traditional foods and whatnot. By this decision being made at the Yellowknife level, we have to also ensure that the communities such as Aklavik, with regard to the Joe Greenland Centre, is also given a fair share of infrastructure dollars to ensure facilities are up to par and, more importantly, that they are functional and able to ensure the care of patients in our communities and not all in Yellowknife Centre with the new Dementia Centre.
So I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what kind of assurances can she give to employees of the Joe Greenland Centre and the patients who are presently in the Joe Greenland Centre, that ongoing care will be there and also that they will not see any change in services and that, if anything, we will see an improvement in programs and services. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Territorial Admissions Committee‘s objective is to make access to our existing long-term care units across the NWT fair and equitable, and we project to do that by having a standardized assessment process whereby all of the applicants and residents in need of a long-term care facility will be considered equally and fairly, so that not one region is banished in any way.
I would like to assure the Member that this will not in any way impact the creation of new facilities, because that’s a completely different capital process. This has to do with how we maximize the use of existing long-term care units across the Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My concern is with the opening of the new Dementia Centre here in Yellowknife where a lot of patients will receive that special care, but, more importantly, they are presently in the territorial hospital system with regard to care facilities in Inuvik, Fort Smith, here in Yellowknife and, more importantly, to ensure that those people who need the service for dementia are given the service, but we move the people in there that need that 24-hour care and specialized care in that particular area. But by moving these people, we don’t see a decrease in regard to programs and services in the other care facilities such as the Joe Greenland Centre. So my concern is more in regards to the new facility coming on stream and also the individuals being moved to that facility, that it does not affect the operations and maintenance of those other facilities. That is where I am going with my question. Has that been looked at with regard to the transition that is going to take place of moving these patients into the new Dementia Centre?
I understand the Member’s concern and I want to assure the Member that our plan is not to move residents from regional centres in smaller communities and move them into Yellowknife into the Territorial Dementia Centre, thereby decreasing the use of these long-term care facilities in communities like Aklavik. Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the Member that the Territorial Dementia Centre, not only that, but, say, the assisted living campus in Hay River, is specialized, very high-level care facilities that are in desperate need. We have residents with severe dementia that are at the hospital right now or are not being taken care of adequately in the way we want to. So we are building this 28-bed facility for use by all of the residents of the Territories, but it’s not meant to bring people in from smaller communities unless they absolutely need this service. When those applicants do apply, we wanted to have a standardized process that’s fair and equitable for all applicants for all of the Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I was praising the establishment of the Dementia Centre, so the people who do have dementia in our hospitals will now have a space which is specialized care for dementia patients, so we can move them out of the hospital into this facility. That was my understanding. So from what the Minister is saying, it sounds like no one is going to move from the regions into this facility with dementia, they are going to keep them in the hospitals in the region. So I would just like to get a clarification from the Minister. Is the intention of the Department of Health and Social Services to keep this Yellowknife facility as a Yellowknife facility or is it a territorial facility?
There are two things being done with respect to long-term care facilities. We know that facilities in Aklavik and some other communities are very old. They need to be renovated. There are some communities without long-term care facilities. So we are doing a planning study for a long-term care facility. We are looking at a generic design, because we understand this designing and planning study and master plan takes so long to develop. We want to establish a generic long-term care facility for small communities so that as we find the money, we can build them without having to do the whole process over.
With respect to the Dementia Centre, that is a highly specialized dementia care facility that only the residents who need that level of care will be admitted to from all across the Territories. But I want to assure the Member, there are beds in Fort Smith, Hay River, Fort Simpson and Inuvik where people with dementia will still be able to live and function. So this Territorial Dementia Centre is designed for the most acute case and we want to make sure that it remains a territorial facility and that all residents, elders and residents, will have access to it fairly and equitably. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member a final, short supplementary question.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to request of the Minister if she could pass on the message to the residents of the Joe Greenland Centre and, more importantly, the staff of this transitional period, what the process is and, more importantly, the residents, patients and families that this process is out there. Get the message out and get those people aware that this change has taken place and make sure it’s open and transparent so everybody can take advantage of it. Mahsi.
Yes, I will commit to the Member that I will work with the Member to do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper, oral questions. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
