Julie Green

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, this is a core service of the NTHSSA and so when people need this service, it's provided, and so we budget an amount, which we'll see in the main estimates. But if it turns out there's more demand than we have money for, then we go through a supplementary appropriation to ensure that we have the money we need to pay for the services that are offered.

The additional cost here is for medical travel but we always paid Alberta for the services and so we continue to pay them, in Edmonton now, rather than operating here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our priority is always patient care. The reality of the size of our territory is that we can't attract or fully engage specialists here the way a specialist working in a population of a million people can. So we continue to depend on Alberta health services to supplement our healthcare system, and we're very grateful that they triage our patients the same as Albertans so that we get very good service from them. Thank you.

Yes, thank you. I don't have any information on a comprehensive program.

Osteoarthritis, which I have, and rheumatoid arthritis are different conditions. Rheumatoid arthritis is an immune system issue, usually diagnosed in people when they are in their early 30s and requires ongoing care. Osteoarthritis is not the same problem, and it's dealt with by orthopaedic surgeons, not by rheumatologists. So what I can see happening is that the more intense care that people with rheumatoid arthritis need will be rebuilt here in the NWT so that we can achieve our two goals of making patient care close to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to, first of all, say that the 400 people who need services from rheumatology continue to get those services, not in Yellowknife but in Alberta. So the program is not offered here but there are services available to people with rheumatoid arthritis.

What I want to say is that this is a temporary interruption. The medical director has been clear that the intention is to rebuild the program with a better service model that provides care close to home and she continues, I know, to work on this as a priority.

In the past, we have closed the chemotherapy...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. The reasons the nurses don't leave the health centre is they are prohibited from doing so by policy. The emergency first responders who attend to immediate problems car crashes, people fainting, and so on they are specifically trained as first responders and they have the appropriate equipment, including transportation, to respond to the situation. So there are four communities in the NWT where municipalities provide that service but, unfortunately, this does not happen in the small communities. And I realize that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is generally the fire departments who also take care of the emergency responder calls, and there is training available through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. It was being done online during the COVID time, but I think it's gone back to inperson training now. So I would encourage the Member to connect with my colleague, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, for more information. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we had a good goaround yesterday on detox so I'm not going to go back there.

In terms of new federal funding, I'm very interested to see what the details are and how that money can be spent to the benefit of residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member raises a good point. We've had a couple of programs close recently that occupied the Territorial Treatment Centre in Yellowknife and the Trailcross Treatment Centre in Fort Smith. So we are aware that there is some surplus infrastructure. I think the process is to first of all identify the programming we want in the surplus infrastructure and then see whether it's appropriate for use. Some of the infrastructure that the Member has mentioned is very old and would not be up to code whereas other buildings would be ready for occupancy in short...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm certainly willing to make that commitment to meet with the nurses association and see if there is anything that we can assist them to do to speed up the licensing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased that we're joined today by Captain Jason Brinson of the Salvation Army in Yellowknife, where they provide invaluable services to the vulnerable population in food hampers all the way through to withdrawal management and sheltering. Thank you.