Debates of October 26, 2006 (day 16)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke to the value of health care professionals. I fully appreciate the fact that a lot of nurses come north to work and they have some financial incentive to do so. I think if we put some of these incentives in place permanently, then they may want to just live here and work up here. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Roland, if his department has any authority to give retention bonuses or a few more incentives for health care professionals. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Roland.

Return To Question 203-15(5): Incentives And Retention Bonuses For Health Care Professionals

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the area of nurse pay or bonus systems, the government has, in the past, worked with the union and internally to come up with a system. It was put in place. It was there for a short period, trying to encourage the nurses to stay in the North. As well, part of the bonus was to reward them for their years of service. That worked for a little while, but we found as well that, in some cases, as we no sooner made the payment to some of the individuals, they left the Northwest Territories. So it didn’t quite work out how it was designed. We have tried to look at a number of other options to fill the gaps. Anything we would do in this area would require the involvement of the UNW as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 203-15(5): Incentives And Retention Bonuses For Health Care Professionals

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the fact that you would have to go through the UNW, but I feel nurses are different. They could be on the same pay level as a carpenter, for example, and the work that they do, in my opinion, is a lot more important. Has the department ever been approached by health care professionals to negotiate their own contract? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 203-15(5): Incentives And Retention Bonuses For Health Care Professionals

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, a number of times this issue has come up. In fact, the very first time was when we took over the delivery of health care from the federal government. That was the first time it came up. It has been reviewed a number of times. This time, not in looking at making our union or setting up another union process, we would still have to follow the same rules as we do when it comes to equal pay, pay equity and those issues as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 203-15(5): Incentives And Retention Bonuses For Health Care Professionals

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would his department consider entering into separate contracts with each nurse that comes up here on a nurse-to-nurse basis? Is that possible? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 203-15(5): Incentives And Retention Bonuses For Health Care Professionals

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am aware that, within the department and our hiring practices, we have tried to come up with some unique ideas or processes of coming up with nurses. Part of the problem is because there is such a large vacancy rate that occurred at one point, we had to come up with this idea. In fact, I believe before we, as we now term it "agency nurses," that was some of the practices that came in place with individuals. Of course, in a work environment, when you find that there is a large demand, there is also the other side of the equation that comes into play where they then do find themselves in a position of some authority in a sense of being able to deliver services for us and trying to fill a gap. We came up with this option of using agency nurses to fill a gap. Unfortunately, we found ourselves having to use that more and more. We are looking at another option of trying to move away from that, but it will take some work and some time. Thank you.

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

Supplementary To Question 203-15(5): Incentives And Retention Bonuses For Health Care Professionals

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we well know that a lot of southern agency nurses come north to work. What I am afraid of here, and maybe it is an option, we may see a northern pool of agency nurses. Would that be an option for the department to negotiate with them as an agency pool of northern nurses? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 203-15(5): Incentives And Retention Bonuses For Health Care Professionals

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess that is an option. If we were to lose our northern nurses and they formed an agency and then contracted the Government of the Northwest Territories, that is not something we would encourage. Ultimately, it comes back to the ability to find the dollars to do this. Hopefully, with some of our other plans in place, we will be able to start coming back to the way we have done it in the past where we hire north and keep our nurses in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.