Glen Abernethy

This is obviously an incredibly important issue in the Northwest Territories, especially recognizing the rate in which our seniors populations are increasing. It’s something I have asked to be included on the Cabinet’s transition document so it is brought forward to the future government. If I’m fortunate enough to be back, whether I’m on that side of the House or on this side of the House, it’s still a priority for me and would continue to be a priority for me. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The portable ultrasounds is in response to a policy that was put forward in 2006 by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. There are new national standards for emergency rooms and these portable ultrasounds will be going into emergency rooms. We’ve already got the one we need here in Yellowknife and we’re looking at Inuvik, Fort Smith, Simpson – Was it Simpson? – Hay River, my apologies, to be in – you’re right, Simpson – the emergency units. They do require some specialty training that we’re not in a position to ensure that our community health nurses throughout the Northwest...

I’m happy to have the department continue and re-engage in some dialogue with BC to see what it would take, but I do put some provisos around that. When a resident of the Northwest Territories chooses to go outside of this province for medical treatment that’s available in this province, we don’t cover that. What we’re talking about now is whether or not we can cover people for referrals, somebody who’s actually accessed and engaged in the system, so not people who are just making choices to travel outside but where there’s been a referral or something, we’re certainly willing to have those...

We don’t have an action plan per se. What we do have is Our Elders: Our Communities framework which focuses on seven different priority areas: healthy and active aging; home and community care services; integrated and coordinated services across the continuum; getting people to work together, as the Member has described; caregiver supports; elder-responsive communities is another initiative that we’re working on with communities and partners; and ensuring that there’s sustainable best practices available for all of the care providers and residents of the Northwest Territories.

We are also...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are always looking at the numbers and the costs of sending people south versus finding ways to keep them here in the North. We are doing ongoing analysis. We haven’t been able to identify anything appropriate as an immediate move to the Northwest Territories at this point in time. But in the construction and design of Stanton, we didn’t want to limit ourselves to the future. So there is room within the proposed build that would fit something like an MRI, as an example. In the plan of the new building, there is a section that is designated for where we put the addition...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker As Canadian residents, the residents of Fort Liard can receive services anywhere in this country with no cost as long as it’s medically necessary. So if they travel down there for a doctor’s appointment or if they travel down there for an emergency situation, those costs are actually covered through reciprocal billing.

What I believe the Member is talking about is when members of the community choose to go to Fort Nelson as opposed to going to the health centre, they want their travel covered. Our recommendation is that we use the health facilities here in the Northwest...

A couple of things. Your income doesn’t really affect your ability to access government funded long-term care facilities in the Northwest Territories or extended care. So it doesn’t matter if you make a ton of money or have no money, it’s based on need. So I’m not sure I understand that particular question. Hopefully the Member will be able to help me understand where he’s going with that.

On the other side, there is nothing stopping a private business from opening up a long-term care facility and charging whatever they feel an appropriate market rent or market fee would be to do that. There’s...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide an update on our plans to improve care and services for our residents by improving the Health and Social Services System.

On June 4, 2015, Bill 44, An Act to Amend the Hospital Insurance and Health and Social Services Administration Act, received assent in the Legislative Assembly. With the assent of Bill 44, we now have the legislative mechanism to bring the NWT Health and Social Services System together.

This milestone is the result of years of work and collaboration between many different stakeholders, including the chairs and public administrators of the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. A lot of questions there. Just to be clear, the RFP for Stanton was prepared to ensure the broadest potential options for bidders to develop the most affordable and efficient proposal. The procurement process that we went through does not limit the redevelopment solutions. A full range of proposals were considered for Stanton, including renovation of the existing building and provision of a completely new hospital. A new build proposal was considered, provided that the proposed solution did not include demolition of the existing hospital, and addressed the GNWT’s...

We are trying to ensure that all of our staff are up to date, they understand the policies, they understand the policies that exist. We are actually doing a medical travel review and modernization to improve the medical travel experience. One of the things that we’re doing is focusing on client service and making sure that all of our medical travel staff have gone through and are certified as customer service agents, which means they will be able to work better with our clients.

In the case the Member is describing, I would certainly be happy to look at it to make sure everything worked out, or...