Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the GNWT have a partnership with an Indigenousbased addiction treatment facility for NWT residents? When will the GNWT have an Indigenousbased addiction healing treatment facility accessible to NWT residents? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last month, the Department of Health and Social Services asked for Indigenous addictionsbased treatment facilities to provide proposals for Indigenous treatment for NWT residents or addictions treatment with an Indigenous lens for NWT residents. That competition, or that request for proposal closed on Friday. And it's my understanding that procurement shared services are now evaluating those proposals. The goal that the department set out with was to have the new service provider in place by April 1st. Thank you.
Thank you. Can the Minister explain the referral process for NWT residents to go for treatment; how long does the referral process take?
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is really a twopart process. The first part is that the individual who wants treatment needs to be assessed by a healthcare practitioner or counsellor as understanding what's involved in treatment, ready for treatment, preferences for treatment, where they would like to go and so on. That is part one. Part two is then sending the referral to the addictions treatment centre, and then they do or don't have beds available, they put the person on the waiting list. There are a number of variables depending on the size and capacity of the treatment centre. But in general, the whole process from beginning to end takes an average of three weeks. So that means it can take less time, but I'm also aware that it's taken more. Thank you.
If an NWT resident wanted to refer themselves into treatment without a case worker assigned to them, will the GNWT cover this cost? Thank you.
Yes, thank you. The issue of selfreferral is a little bit problematic because it doesn't give the counsellor or other support workers the ability to continue connecting with that person before treatment, after treatment, and making sure that they are accessing the resources that are available to them. We have contracts at this point with five facilities. So if people use our referral process to one of those five centres, then the costs are covered. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If an Indigenous NWT resident wants to attend an Indigenous addiction treatment facility, will the GNWT cover that cost? Is this covered by our treaty rights? Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if an NWT resident is referred to one of the treatment centres that we currently have contracts with, we will pay the full amount of the treatment cost, and we expect to add an Indigenous specific offering to the treatment centre list by the beginning of April. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
