Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Quebec has passed legislation to ban private health agencies in major centres by December of this year and throughout the province by the end of 2025. So my question is to the Minister of health, will she also ban the use of agencies in the Northwest Territories so we can restore integrity to our public health care system in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a conversation that I actually had with Minister Holland last week, is the effect of, you know, agency nurses on our health care system and this is a discussion that I will continue I will be raising at the national level because as currently right now in the Northwest Territories, we have seven agency nurses working. And so if I was to say we are out of the 400 and some staff positions, for me to say I'm banning agency nurses and the rest of Canada doesn't do that, you know, I hear what the Member is saying, but the Northwest Territories can't do it alone so we're going to need I'm going to need help from the rest of the territories and provinces to do something like this. And I'm glad to hear, you know, some of the work that's going on in the rest of the country because this is an issue. This is an issue on our health care system. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well I heard a no, but I appreciate the Minister's position. So can she explain why we're so reliant on agency on public or private agencies in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
I could let Minister of housing answer, but I don't know if he'll get the answer he wants. Sorry, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, you know, the North the NTHSSA uses agency nurses as a last resort. This is not something that we want to do but when it comes to closing beds, closing units, you know, we seen this happen two years ago when the obstetrics you know, that you know, and we raised it in this House. It was raised in this House that, you know, the costs of the twomonth closure and the impact on all of those families that had to travel due to the closure, you know, if we're talking about closing a unit versus hiring some nurses to ensure that people are not sitting down in Edmonton incurring us costs and away from their family for you know, sometimes they leave two weeks before and then they are there two weeks after their due date before they deliver. So, you know, there's many other things.
We also will use them in surgery, in the dialysis, in the operating room, post anesthetic, and most recently we ended up in an emergency situation where Inuvik Regional Hospital had to close down their birthing you know, members that were due had to fly out for that short period of time.
So these are specialty areas and so in order for us to keep those units going and less impact to the patients, that's where we use them. We don't want to use them but if we had the option to hire a term or something, we would. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad the Minister doesn't want to use them. So how much is it costing us? How much is it costing us a day and how much and over time, has it changed since COVID? That's my question. Are we paying more now than before the pandemic? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And keep it short, yes, we are paying more now before the pandemic because we didn't use them for 15 years before without the OBS unit closed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for the brief answer. Mr. Speaker, how is the authority the health authority communicating to our local workforce that these aren't temporary measures, these are not replacing them, and we value their work, and we want to pay them what they for the hard work they do for our communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I can do it short, but I can do it so I could give the answer. So currently the NTHSSA is finalizing its formal employee engagement strategy. This is a draft strategy that's been distributed to all the staff members for their input, and they are actively seeking feedback. So executiveled council meetings provide a platform for discussion and feedback gathering, to communicate effectively with staff, the NTHSSA uses various channels, including daily staff emails, monthly coffee breaks, COO communication with staff monthly through their own newsletter, regular staff tailgate. You know, and I know that this area is hard because they work 12 hours a day, 24 or 12hour shifts 24 hours a day and sometimes they're not able to always get the information. So if there's ways that and I mentioned it yesterday to better this communication, you know, please feel free to bring those discussions to me. Thank you.
Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
