Mr. Speaker, it's not only Northerners from smaller communities or remote regions, it's also Yellowknifers who have to deal with the medical travel system that isn't serving their needs.
Last October, one of my constituents went to Stanton Hospital because he was having trouble breathing where it was discovered he had a heart attack. He was sent to Edmonton the next day but on the way developed pneumonia and a blood infection. For a month, he was sedated with a breathing tube but despite the support of his doctor, his spouse was denied medical travel. Imagine how she felt with her husband that way, the doctors having told her that his health could depend on her presence, only to be flatly turned down. The staff at Stanton and the Royal Alex did their very best and thankfully the constituent recovered in time, but his spouse needed to take $6,000 out of their retirement savings so she could provide assistance and learn how to care for him once he returns to Yellowknife. This put his family and her through strain and anxiety while he fought for his life hundreds of kilometers away.
Mr. Speaker, by forcing escorts to pay their own way and for their own hotels when a loved one is in a medical emergency, we are abandoning the values of public health care. Worse yet, we are putting patients at risk when their escorts are denied, and they require someone to make decisions on their behalf. Regardless of its medical treatment, if medical treatment is scheduled or it is due to an emergency, escorts can be essential because they possess vital knowledge of a patient that may be required to understand a plan of care, yet our policies policymakers seem to think differently. The policies that are in place that are preventing medical escorts for emergent care when it's necessary, like the case I described, are cruel, Mr. Speaker. Yes, budgets are tight and medical travel is an expensive service but rationalizing services should not result in irrational policies that pick and choose who gets helped. I know of other instances where constituents were essentially compelled to bring escorts unnecessarily or patients who could have been treated virtually here in the North for a fraction of the expense are sent down south anyway. We can do better but the way where we need to save costs is not in emergency situations. We need a Minister who will fix this broken system and stop putting patients' lives at risk. And later today, I hope that I find one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Members' statements. Member from Great Slave.
