Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister for Health and Social Services, and I want to follow up on my statement about the cancellation of the Midwifery Program.
I recognize that cancellation may not be the correct word. The program was suspended, and it was suspended at the request of the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, but that authority has never, ever been funded adequately for the Midwifery Program, and it has actually put them into a deficit, from what I understand. To my way of thinking, the Minister’s acceptance of Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority’s request shows no willingness on the part of the department to find the money to keep the program going. I’d like to ask the Minister to explain why the department considered it okay for a well used, successful program to be cancelled or suspended -- your choice of words -- outright, without careful consideration of the impact that it would have. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was careful consideration given to the request. Yellowknife has, in the Northwest Territories, the best services available on the medical front, of nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, obstetricians, everybody that you could possibly need to have a successful pregnancy, to do the prenatal and postnatal work. Yes, midwifery is nice to have if we can afford it.
I pointed out earlier that every region here outside of the large centres, the Sahtu, Nunakput, Tu Nedhe, Nahendeh, Mackenzie Delta, Monfwi, and Deh Cho, don’t have birthing services at all. So we have committed to a plan and we’re going to get that plan done so that for the next business planning session, that there will be a consideration for the recommendations put forward as a result of that review. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister, I think, for that answer. I appreciate that we have excellent facilities here for birthing, and it’s not so much that we have facilities we should cancel one program because we have another program that allows for a certain kind of birthing. There are also the advantages to be considered of a secondary birthing program, and one of them is financial. I think that certainly midwifery is a cheaper alternative to hospitals. I appreciate also that the Minister talks about areas that don’t have midwifery services or even birthing services. Absolutely, we should be expanding the program, not cancelling, as he’s doing.
I appreciate the fact that we’re doing a review. I’d like to ask the Minister who is going to be involved in this program review and expansion analysis. Thank you.
As the Member encourages us to expand the programs here in Yellowknife, I just want to point out that I recollect sitting at that witness table and listening to the Member’s deep concern that we were going to overspend our supplementary reserve, and cautioning us and urging us to be fiscally prudent and responsible, which we’re trying to do.
Mr. Speaker, there will be a process. I don’t believe the consultant has been picked yet to do this, but there will be work with the current midwives, the medical community and stakeholders. They’ll be taken across the Northwest Territories to see what’s possible, should the time come when resources are available for us to consider those types of program expansions. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. I would encourage the department and the Minister to get as broad representation from users and potential users of this kind of a program as possible.
I’d like to know from the Minister, if they’re going to a contractor to do this review and analysis, would the Minister and the department be open to a non-government organization putting in a proposal to do this review and analysis? Thank you.
There will be an RFP put out and folks can apply for that. That will be an open kind of process, and if they are the ones chosen and meet the requirements, then they’ll get the job. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I would hope that when the Minister and the department evaluate these proposals that they look at the time frame that is being proposed at the time that they do that evaluation.
Can the Minister advise me and the House when we can expect the results of this review and analysis? Thank you.
As I indicated in the previous answer, the intent is over the life of this current fiscal year to get the work done and have it ready so that when the new 17th Legislative Assembly comes into place and the government is up and running, that they’ll be able to consider the results, findings and recommendations as they look at the 2012-13 business planning process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
