Glen Abernethy

There does seem to be some continued confusion and I’m happy to sit down with the Member to talk, but I’d like to clarify for the Member that the ultrasound machine at Fort Simpson is not the kind used by sonographers to perform diagnostic tests. Rather, the machine at Simpson, the portable ultrasound machine, is the kind that is used by doctors and nurse practitioners and midwives at the bedside to help them make immediate decisions about patient care; things such as checking someone in an accident has internal bleeding or to check to see if a baby is in breach. Establishing a full diagnostic...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first off, I have to apologize. There was clearly some confusion and there have been some changes. The existing portable ultrasound in the Fort Simpson Health Centre is out-dated, as the Member has identified, and is actually scheduled to be replaced with a new portable ultrasound machine this summer. We’re hoping that we’ll have one in place by the end of June 2017, barring any unforeseen challenges with purchase and delivery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Late in the life of the last government, it was decided to move the Hay River authority into the public service because there were unknown things at play. There was no finalized collective agreement with the UNW for GNWT employees. There was also no finalized collective agreement with the Hay River employees. It left a lot of questions up in the air as far as what exists in one body, what exists in the other, and how do we make those come across seamlessly so that we don’t adversely affect the employees. At that time, I accepted that logic because we didn’t know those things, but I also...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t know. I know that when we looked at bringing the health authority in during the last Assembly, the cost estimates were about $20 million. Things have changed since then. We have put in 12 new positions in Hay River. There have been some other changes. There has been staff turnover. The bottom line is: I can’t tell you what the number is today, but it is likely still around that number, maybe slightly higher. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The environmental health officers are working with small operators and people applying for temporary or permanent food establishment permits to ensure the food they provide is safe. Providing for locally sourced meat products will require revisions to the Public Health Act and regulations, and it may require other regulations or amendments to be done, regulations and legislation that might exist in other departments, like ENR, Lands, or ITI, so we would need to work with those departments to ensure that any sales or distribution of locally harvested foods is safe for the residents when it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have environmental health officers employed by the Department of Health and Social Services who can offer NWT food safety courses when requested by a community. They can go out and do that. They are usually waiting until they get at least 10 individuals who are interested in that course. However, we do know that, in some of the smaller communities, finding 10 individuals has proven to be difficult, so that can be offered by Telehealth as well, but we would need a request from the community that they would like that course provided and we can certainly...

As the territorial authority looks at expanding services at any point in the Northwest Territories, we would have to build a business case and justify any decisions which are being made, which will obviously include costs analyses and those types of things. I just do not want to set any false impressions.

At this point, a sonography machine, an ultrasound machine for deep exams, things like hearts and deep analysis, is a very expensive piece of machinery that can only be operated by a sonographer. If we are to put these very expensive machines in communities and then only use them occasionally...

As I’ve already indicated, the existing portable ultrasound in the Fort Simpson Health Centre is out-dated and needs to be replaced. It will be replaced. We’re hoping to have that portable ultrasound on-site by the end of June, barring any challenges with delivery and/or purchasing.

The contracts that we have with the southern facilities basically cover treatment costs as well as we cover travel costs to get our residents to and from these facilities, and we also have per diem costs that cover things like the food they eat and provide with them a warm, safe place to sleep, but as far as incidentals, the ability or the cash to buy cigarettes or other things, we don't provide that support to residents who are travelling south. They would either have to have other means, family supports, or, if they are eligible for or are on income support, they have a mechanism to seek...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could get the Member some costs on the average cost for an individual who attends treatment. I don't have that information at my fingertips, but I can tell the Member that the cost that we pay to individual treatment facilities is different between the different facilities. We have contracted amounts. We pay a per-day rate that ranges anywhere from $160 per day to $450 a day, depending on the institution or the facility that an individual is attending. Those are contracted amounts based on the range and scope of programming that each of the facilities...