Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I stated earlier, the numbers of adults and children that we place in these institutional settings hasn’t changed that much and I could give Members figures on that. I remember seeing that most recently. It is the cost of providing those services that has gone up.

With respect to the Hay River assisted living facility, we have, I believe, about 20 residents there and the department has worked very hard to look at all the people we have in southern settings to see who are eligible and who can be moved up and that depends on the person’s care needs as well as the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am aware that the Members and Members’ groups have applied on some funding under the homelessness fund and it was fully subscribed by the time that came in this fiscal year, but we will resubmit it for next year, which is beginning in a few short months. So hopefully that application will have better luck. That’s how our program works at the moment. Thank you.

This is an area where expenditures are made on the basis of need. We place children and adults as they are needed. I can advise the Members that the numbers of clients have stayed quite consistent over the last number of years. There is a little bit of up and down, but there’s not a general trend upwards.

What we have seen is an increase in costs of caring for these children and adults. Some of them are quite high needs and it’s the rates that some of these facilities are charging us and they have all been going up, especially across Alberta. Thank you.

Could I ask if he is interested in the ones that we have direct dealings with and perhaps provide funding to? Also I need to clarify that we understand that they are not typical NGOs in communities and lots of our funding goes to community councils and community organizations and municipalities in all regions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my left is deputy minister of Health and Social Services, Paddy Meade; and to my right is director of finance, Mr. Derek Elkin.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I do have a copy of the business plan with me, but I am now looking at page 33 and I don’t see it, so I think it would be best if I could talk to her and see if we could give more information to each other.

I’m going to try to tackle this and if there is any technical backup, my DM can jump in.

Mr. Chairman, first of all, telehealth and telespeech, we’re not talking about two different projects. It really is a communication machine. It’s about delivering health care and related services like speech therapy through a TV screen connected to a service provider, whether it be a speech language therapist or a radiologist or even a physician. It is a distance health care delivery method. I can tell you that, I know for a fact, I saw with my own eyes new machines sitting in Deline, Good Hope, even...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The way our system is set up, the authorities get the funding to provide services to the communities. They work as one entity and they distribute their resources in the best way possible. I understand and I have heard, and I have met with the community about the desire of the community to have a permanent nurse physically there all year round. The issues are the Beaufort-Delta Health Authority is stretched, not only in terms of dollars, but in terms of available nurses. They have the obligation for all of the Beaufort-Delta communities to spread their nursing resources...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member is right; this is a crucial and big emerging issue. It is permeating into all of our program areas. It is not just a long-term care issue.

Seniors population right now -- about 3,500 out of 40,000-plus of the Northwest Territories population -- is the fastest growing segment of our population. It has grown by 54 percent over the last 10 years while the general population only grew by 4 percent. I think that speaks to what challenges and opportunities we are dealing with.

The department, in all program areas, looks at how to support the seniors and how to...

Mr. Chairman, the home care service, the money is provided to each authority under our primary care. Thank you.