Glen Abernethy

I’m, unfortunately, not aware of the particular legislation that the Member is talking about, but it is an interesting idea and I’ll certainly have the department take a look at the legislation and provide me with a bit of an overview of what it is and how it works within that jurisdiction.

As far as moving forward, I’ll share the information I get with committee, and if it’s the wish of committee, we’re certainly willing to have those discussions. Thank you.

There have been discussions with the community ongoing, but as far as the most recent round of discussions with respect to the opening, I will have to confirm that information with the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority. I will commit to the Member to get him an update as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am not aware of the specific deficiencies, but I understand there were some life safety-related issues with respect to the facility. The contractor is working on those and we expect them to be done shortly, well before the March 31st contract close date. But for specific details, it might be better to go to the Minister responsible for Public Works and Services who is responsible for the build of this facility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Prior to the implementation of Med-Response, a nurse in a region, regardless of the region, would call a physician who was associated with that particular region. For instance, in the Sahtu, if there was no doctor available in Simpson, they would call the medical director who may be located in another province, which was often the case, who may not have known exactly the current status of our air ambulance team. Now with Med-Response, rather than trying to figure out who a CHR or CHW in a community like Trout Lake, they would actually call one number in the Northwest...

I’d actually have to have the department do a bit of an analysis. There are so many facilities that we support, whether it’s hospitals or the type of facility that the Member brought up in her statement, I couldn’t say for certain what our vacancy rate is on those.

I will say for an individual to be eligible for out-of-territory placement they must meet specific criteria. One of the following: they must have a diagnosis of a mental illness or a traumatic brain injury; a genetic disorder or a significant development or physical disability; they must have a serious emotional, behavioural...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The budget for ’14-15 was $17.6 million for southern placements, and that covers 69 adults and 37 youth.

We’ve just finished the most recent one as a result of recommendations from committee, so I’m assuming biannual would be two years from now. We did just finish one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we actually have contracts with accredited agencies located in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to provide these incredibly specialized skills. It’s not just specialized skills but it’s different skills. I mean, we have our residents who have really unique conditions who require significant supports, and we don’t actually have programs or the specialists to provide those skills here in the Northwest Territories for one person. Whereas, they have institutions in the South that provide it for similar causes or conditions where they’ve got a large number of people...

The new hospital in Hay River, as the Member has indicated, is moving along smoothly and we anticipate to be moving staff over in the near future. We will get the information to the Member and to the individuals who are potentially affected before the move is finalized. Thank you.

I have confirmation from the authority that they have been in contact with the staff and they have articulated that the structural maintenance and the boilers and whatnot of the new facility will be done by Public Works and Services and that they’ve asked the staff if any of them are interested in transferring over.

We have been working closely with the Department of Public Works and Services who will ultimately have the big picture maintenance responsibilities for all of the government assets here in the Northwest Territories. But at the same time, and I want to continue to articulate, not all...