Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the winter session of this 16th Legislative Assembly I and other Members asked a number of questions of the Minister of Health and Social Services on the problems the Stanton Territorial Health Authority was experiencing with their sterilization equipment. At that time the Minister acknowledged that Stanton had been experiencing problems with the sterilizers they use for the reprocessing unit.
As a result of these problems, Stanton had to cancel a number of elective surgeries. We were told that elective surgeries were cancelled as they were the only ones that Stanton could control, and thus ensure that sterile equipment was available for emergency and critical surgeries as well as acute care issues within Stanton. This was a reasonable direction, given the situation.
However, recognizing the difficulties that this decision would cause individuals on the waiting list for elective surgeries, I and others were adamant that the problem be resolved right away. In late February the then Minister of Health and Social Services informed the Regular Members that the problem had been resolved and that over the following months Stanton would be working through their backlog of elective surgeries.
This past June, two months ago, I was approached by a constituent who informed me that her elective surgery at Stanton had been cancelled for the third time in a row. The reason, Mr. Speaker, is sterilization equipment at Stanton was not working properly.
This was a significant surprise and was inconsistent with the previous statements from the department. I followed up with the department, who confirmed they were continuing to experience problems with their sterilization equipment. Needless to say, I was surprised that the Minister, knowing the importance of this issue to Regular Members, had failed to notify us. Regardless, the Minister did indicate that the staff at Stanton had been working around the clock to resolve these problems.
I was also told in July that Stanton believed that they had resolved the problem, and that testing would be underway throughout July, with an intent to resuming elective surgeries on August 12th, which was last Tuesday, if positive test results were achieved. This was good news. The problem is that we’ve heard it before.
I heard this week that the elective surgeries were not resumed on August 12th. As a result, later today I’ll be asking the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services to confirm the current status of the sterilization equipment and elective surgeries at Stanton Territorial Hospital, and I look forward to the answers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
