Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You caught me off guard.
Mr. Speaker, residents of Hay River and surrounding communities rely on the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority to provide them with timely and quality health care. Due to an ongoing and continued shortage of physicians at the facility, residents' personal health is now at risk. My questions are for the Minister for Health and Social Services and are as follows:
What is the current number of physicians at Stanton Territorial Hospital, Inuvik Regional Hospital, Fort Smith Health Centre, and the Hay River Regional Health Centre, and on a per capita basis, what are the number and types of physicians needed to provide an acceptable level of healthcare service at each facility;
The department of health has the responsibility of providing timely and quality health care to all residents of the Northwest Territories. Is there a policy that requires the department to commit a minimum number of physicians to each of Stanton Territorial Hospital, Inuvik Regional Hospital, Fort Smith Health Centre, and the Hay River Regional Health Centre, and if so, can you please provide a copy of the policy;
Due to a lack of physicians at Hay River Regional Health Centre, have assessments been conducted to confirm the impact on the quality of health care provided to residents and staff satisfaction in the workplace, and if so, what were the assessment outcomes and recommendations;
For the community of Hay River, will the department of health consider turning over responsibility for physician recruitment to the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority along with the financial resources and provide access to the database of physicians and outline a process to move this forward; and,
Has the department of health undertaken an assessment of whether health care services for Hay River and area residents would be better served if the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority was incorporated into the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority, and are there any barriers that would make this unfeasible?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
