Julie Green

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, locums are selfemployed basically. They come here on shortterm contracts, and they may come once, they may come on a schedule; there's no way to know. And on the employer end, they are used to fill gaps as necessary. So in some cases, we do see locums returning on a regular basis and, wherever possible, we encourage them to continue coming to the NWT to ensure that patient continuity that the Member was seeking of.

In addition, we maintain a locum talent pool list which is a list that we consult and call people from on an ongoing basis.

What we've seen...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it all starts with the relationship between the health provider and the patient. They would be able to recommend a range of health and social services that would assist with diagnosis, treatment, and support. For example, medications and medical supplies and equipment can be covered through the NIHB program for First Nations and Inuit residents and the Supplementary Health Benefits program for nonIndigenous residents. Home care services are available to residents in all communities, and Meals on Wheels in some communities. Rehabilitation services are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the question. For the month of December, there will be 77 locum physicians providing services to the NWT. It sounds like a lot, but this is substantially lower than the average of 103 locums per month. In addition, as of October 31st the following casual locum staff working throughout the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority: 11 community health nurses, one midwife, one nurse practitioner, one respiratory therapist, and 26 registered nurses. And to give some context to these numbers, as of June the 30th there were 338 frontline...

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I'll take that question on notice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, aftercare is a huge priority for me. I spoke about it endlessly as a regular Member, and I continue that passion in this role now.

I'd just like to clarify that the Indian Residential counseling Service is not, in fact, cancelled. The service has been reduced so that facetoface counseling occurs less often, approximately every four to six weeks, and there are alternative ways t-to to obtain counseling between times using the phone and the internet and so on as constituent as residents are comfortable in and according to the technology that they have. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to this point no Indigenous government or community organization has contacted me about this idea. Thank you.

Yes, on the left is Kelly Mahoney, director of policy, legislation and communications, and on the right is Christina Duffy from the Department of Justice.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have any more specific information than the Minister of Finance has. So I can commit to getting that information and bringing it back to the Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm pleased to be here today to discuss Bill 31, an Act to Amend the Pharmacy Act.

The development of this bill is the result of swift effort by the Department of Health and Social Services and would not have been possible without the full support of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight.

Madam Chair, the purpose of this bill is twofold:

First is to ensure that residents continue to have access to lifesaving naloxone kits in their communities and from organizations that work directly with residents at risk.

The proposed change will assist in the...

Yes, thank you. I'll just start by correcting something that the Member said in her statement. The obstetrics ward is open at this time, and it will remain open until December 10th. There was obviously a group of women who were too far along in their pregnancies to be moved to another location to give birth. So the obstetrics unit is open.

I met with leadership of the hospital and the health authority yesterday. I asked that question. I was told that at the hospital, there are no unit closures foreseen at this time.