Debates of May 17, 2007 (day 9)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier in my Member’s statement about the region in terms of catching up to the 21st Century. This issue I want to talk about is one example of the government catching up to the Sahtu in terms of services. I want to talk about the medevac services. Mr. Speaker, I had a question for the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding a decision of this government not to split the medevac contracts between regions as they have done in previous contracts for this type of service for our region. The reason, we were told, was to save money. How much money was saved compared to the previous contract that was split when we had this service in our region? The history is there. It shows the value of having the service in our region. Why hasn’t it been done in the last contract? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Roland.

Return To Question 112-15(6): Regional Medevac Contract

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the area of the medevac contract is one that the government has looked at for quite some time. Not in the previous contracts, but a number of contracts ago, the government decided to pool the area of medevac contracts trying to limit the exposure as it was one of the areas that was growing substantially. So we’ve gone to this method of one contract for the medevac itself. That’s the flights and planes. Then another for medevac personnel. We found even our health centres and hospitals were unable to have staff taken out of their facilities. That would cause other shortages within the day-to-day operations. So we have structured in this way: one for cost-effectiveness and still trying to meet the timelines as we talked about with medevacs and getting people into our health facilities. It’s an area we focussed on. I don’t have the current dollar savings from year to year. It would be difficult because costs have grown over the years substantially, but I think we can show that doing it this way has been more efficient as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 112-15(6): Regional Medevac Contract

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I asked the Minister if he could make a commitment to convince me that this was the most cost-effective way. We are talking about people’s lives, Mr. Speaker. It takes two, three or four hours to get into our communities on a good day. On a bad day, it may be six or eight hours. We are talking about people’s lives. So I am asking the Minister, the Minister said there is no personnel in terms of the type of service we have in the Sahtu and that the cost is too much. How much is too much, Mr. Speaker, in terms of our people’s lives? There has never been a request of an RFP on this service that could not have been identified in terms of the cost of having the service in the Sahtu region. Would the Minister tell me the reasons why?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 112-15(6): Regional Medevac Contract

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fact is the way we’ve changed the service and it’s provided for now has worked. We managed to get into the communities when called upon. Yes, there are a number of communities, not only in the Sahtu but other regions in the territory, where a flight has to go out of one of the two centres. The way the RFP has been structured, we would have one plane situated up in Inuvik that would be dedicated to the service, as well as out of Yellowknife that would reach the other communities. So a lot of communities would have to wait for a flight to be dispatched from one of those two centres. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 112-15(6): Regional Medevac Contract

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I ask about the services in the Sahtu. Take a Twin Otter from Yellowknife, fly it up to Colville Lake, it’s a short runway. It takes a good four or five hours. There is no nurse in Colville Lake. Take a plane out of Inuvik and also fly into Colville Lake. You had services in Norman Wells. Fly over those mountains into Colville Lake, pick up the person, bring him into Norman Wells and fly him out to either Inuvik or Yellowknife. You are talking about lives here, Mr. Speaker. So my question is why are the bulk of medevac flights out of Yellowknife? This is backwards. Aircraft should be based where medevac is originating from. People from Yellowknife can just drive to the hospital. If aircraft were based in a regional centre such as Norman Wells, our response would be cut in half. If an RFP changes to reflect this theory, what would it cost in terms of having these major centres to have this type of service? I would ask the Minister, would he look at having this type of service in the Sahtu region as is in other regions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 112-15(6): Regional Medevac Contract

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the record, I should state the fact that the RFP has been out there, the time for the RFP has closed, at the end of April '07, and the evaluation is undergoing and will be awarded very soon. I am sure that the department has done the evaluation. I haven't got the latest news on that. So we are going with the RFP that has been established. It has worked for us and we're looking at continuing on with that practice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 112-15(6): Regional Medevac Contract

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are many stories. I have a letter from the Yamoga Land Corporation president; I have a letter from the Deline Land Corporation; I have a signature from the chief of Deline in terms of asking the government to consider. I know what the Minister is saying in terms of an RFP going out. They're saying consider having this service in the Sahtu. Why can't we, if the successful bidder is from Yellowknife or Inuvik, have an aircraft based on the Sahtu region? Why do they have to be based in Inuvik or Yellowknife? Why not have it in our region? This is what my people are asking for this service here. Lives are at stake, Mr. Speaker. In this day and age, I think that should be more than the cost-effectiveness of how we run this government here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 112-15(6): Regional Medevac Contract

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The cost effectiveness has to come into play at some point, because if it absolutely fails, it will fail everyone. So I mean that's something we have to keep in mind. The fact is, as I stated, this is not unique just to the Sahtu; it happens in other regions. We've had to try to make a balance of how we operate, how we can function and ensure patient safety. For example, as the Member has highlighted -- and it is a concern to a lot of the communities and regions -- but location of the base stations, as I've highlighted, does come into play when we review this. The ability to maintain and support medevac personnel, because that plays a role in how we function, and the ability to support the flight personnel is another factor that has to play into this. But, Mr. Speaker, there was no inability or the fact that there could have been a partnership formed or part of the RFP could have been a part there that highlighted this as a potential option and it would have been reviewed. I'm not sure if that was done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.