Glen Abernethy

We are certainly not waiting a year. We are anticipating we will get a report back by the end of March, barring any unforeseen circumstances or other challenges. We will need to get that report, review it, have discussions with committee and other stakeholders, and then we will be releasing what we can. Some of the information we may not be able to release as a result of privacy concerns, but, where possible, we need to be able to discuss what happened, how it happened, and what we are planning to do to make sure it does not happen again. We want to do that as soon as possible, but we have got...

Some of the individuals no longer reside in the Northwest Territories. Some have passed away. We are trying to reach out to family where appropriate. We are also reviewing our own records to see if we could find current locations, current addresses, for those individuals. We will take all mechanisms, all means, to try to find current location, current contact information. We are still at it. We have not stopped. We will keep going until we have reached everybody.

As I indicated, we have been in touch with the federal government about possibly issuing an RFP to find a provider to provide those services in Fort Providence. That is going to take a while. We are looking to see if there are any providers locally who might be able to do something immediately, but in the meantime, we are also trying to get some more communications information from the NIHB that we could share with community members, showing them how they can get some financial compensation to go to appointments, so that their ability to maintain their health or deal with emergencies isn't...

I have asked the department to provide me with some clarity on the use of the Snowshoe Inn Centre. It is my understanding that the dental providers out of Hay River actually weren't under contract with NIHB to come. They had actually made those arrangements themselves and made their arrangements in the community.

Having said that, we did construct the new health centre in Fort Providence, which we opened in 2015. Subsequently, a dental room was requested to be added to the new centre. The dental room has been completed, and the required dental equipment has been installed and commissioned in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Regional Wellness Council members are a critical part of our health and social services system. They are change leaders in their communities and a voice for residents in their regions. They champion the ideas and concerns of residents and are passionate about using that information to shape and improve our health and social services.

Mr. Speaker, as Members know, we have six Regional Wellness Councils across the territory, representing the regions of Beaufort-Delta, Deh Cho, Fort Smith, Hay River, Sahtu, and Yellowknife. Each council has six members and a...

No.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are lots of things that are happening in the Health and Social Services system with a focus on improving the delivery to all residents. Moving a single authority has given us many opportunities, and the construction of the new Stanton building will certainly help us provide efficient services in that building.

More importantly, for residents outside of Yellowknife, residents of the Member's riding, I think that one of the most important things that we are doing right now is the Cultural Safety Action Plan, which is going to help ensure that our...

All of the programs and services, counselling and treatment services, that we provide are based on a referral. They would need a referral for us to provide them with financial supports and coverage.

Many insurance providers don't need our same-level referral. They can always approach their own insurance provider if they have it, recognizing that not everybody has it, but typically, no, if someone seeks treatment outside of our system, we wouldn't cover their costs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, two things: number one, for issues that are critical or urgent, there really are no wait times. We triage these individuals right away, and, if the triage identifies it as being an urgent or a critical issue, they will see somebody right away.

However, the Member is correct. There are wait times for non-urgent counselling services here in the Northwest Territories, and some of them are quite long. Yellowknife, for adults, it is up to three months; for children, two months. In Behchoko, it is anywhere from four to five weeks' wait time for non-urgent...

Under medical travel, you are referred to the location within our system that has the services available closest. For some individuals, they would come into Inuvik. For some individuals, they might come into Hay River. For some individuals, they would come into Yellowknife.

For things like MRIs and many of our specialist appointments or surgeries, our relationship is with Alberta, so our referral pattern is into Alberta. We are working with a couple of our communities in the Deh Cho to create a relationship with northern BC, but for the most part, all of our referrals are to our partners in...