Sandy Lee

Those are the levels of detail that we have to work through. As the Members know, we have not had a chance to review our first full functioning business plan, where we could introduce new programs and revisit the old programs. That’s something we’ll be able to do in the month of November. I look forward to working on a new proposal and working with the Members.

Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate the Member’s concern. It is one of the issues I am working on: how to bring the control and the…. I do agree with the Member that the best solutions in healing and grieving and wellness are to be found in communities. I do agree with the Member that we need to revisit the way we are doing that. I’m willing to do that, and I’m willing to work on the proposal and present that to the Members and the Standing Committee on Social Programs.

The problem has never been with the local dentists. Obviously, the dentists would be happy if the government provided a service and facility to provide their services. That is not really the issue. The issue is putting the burden on…. I understand that this is a huge issue for parents with children who need to have dental surgery. What we need to remember is that health care costs are under pressure. We can’t do everything for everybody. And when we have limited dollars, we have do what we are required to do by our health insurance program. Dental surgery is not one of them. We as a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not able to commit to having this program be established at Stanton for the reasons that I’ve indicated earlier. It’s the Stanton authority that feels that given all the demands of the services that they have to provide…. They have to provide insured services first; they have to be able to provide surgeries and other procedures that Stanton has to deliver that other hospitals in the Territories cannot. So that is their first priority.

But I am willing to make a commitment to the Member that I will revisit this issue, including the one day every eight weeks that...

Yes, I’m willing to make a commitment to come up with a proposal. I have to work out the details with the department. I have not had a chance to do that. I will make the commitment to come up with a proposal to discuss with the community to see how that facility can be used better.

My understanding is that the receiving doctor at Capital Health decides where this patient should go. The decision was made that the patient should be sent where she went. Our agreement that we have with Alberta is that we are guaranteed the medical services that Alberta residents get, and that’s what we have.

Mr. Speaker, yes. In answering the Member’s question when he raised it for the first time in this session, I did commit to having my officials talk to the pharmacists. That was about seven days ago. We have not had a chance to do that. I don’t really have any feedback. I’d happy to undertake to consult widely not only on this but on some of the issues that the Members are bringing with the pharmacists to see if this is working and, if it’s not, what suggestions they may have to improve that.

Mr. Speaker, I will be happy to provide the information as to the work the staff did, the calls the nurses made to talk to the patient’s husband in Yellowknife as well as Northern Health Services Network staff this government has hired in Edmonton to help our northern residents who are sent there. I don’t have that information handy, but I would be happy to provide him information on the steps we took to assist with this situation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have that information. I’ll be happy to get that information to the Member. My understanding is that U of A and the Government of Alberta are investing a huge amount of money to make the U of A and the University hospital a centre of excellence and research in the country.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated yesterday, this is a medical decision. A medical doctor at Stanton decides that somebody needs to go elsewhere to receive medical care that we cannot provide here. The medical doctor would be in touch with somebody in Capital Health to receive our patients. So it’s a medical decision; it’s a medical practice decision, and I believe in this case that decision was made by the medical practitioners.