Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, has just indicated to me that the mortgage payments are over $22,000 a month. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will work with the Member and the people of Sahtu, as well as the Minister of Housing to see what is the best use that can be made of that facility. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the discharge of patients is a medical decision that’s done by the doctors and the staff in the facility. The issue of the stand-by and the travel arrangements are dealt with by the staff I’ve already touched on. I’ll look at the issue of stand-by, but I look forward to the other more specific information from the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are staff who deal with medical travel in Inuvik as well as at Stanton; as well, we have people on the ground in Edmonton at the Government Health Authority to assist, as well, with patients who go South. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m aware of the interest in the region and in Deline for the use of that facility and, as a government, it’s a facility that we built and we’re funding to pay the mortgage on. We have looked at it with its potential for a long-term care facility and a number of months ago, as we were doing our review of facilities across the NWT, there was an initial review done of the facility where it was indicated to us that it would cost about $3 million to upgrade the facility to the current code and standards for a long-term care facility. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this goes back quite a few years, but there was a determination made sometime after the facility was built that it wasn’t needed for the purpose it was designed. Therefore, it was no longer used. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will be making sure that the staff in Sahtu and Inuvik are aware of the very clear request from Colville Lake through the Member, and we'll look at what's possible when they're doing their scheduling to see how they could best accommodate that request. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there have been inventories done of all the community health centres in terms of the needs they have for medical equipment, and there has been money identified in the budget to help address those needs. In addition, I would point out that there is also money in the budget for a public health unit to be established in the Sahtu, as well, which should give greater access to public health care which is currently available only through the Inuvik office. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a scheduling issue and there's capacity within the Sahtu region to look at that. We have staff there who are looking at that delivery, as well as we have some staff in Inuvik. The Member raises a point that is a scheduling issue. There is some capacity, so that will have to be investigated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that arrangements are being made to reschedule the visit that, unfortunately, had to be cancelled for a number of reasons, as the Member indicated. So, yes, we will take the steps necessary to ensure that they don't have to wait six months to see a doctor. Thank you.