Tom Beaulieu

I will commit to providing the sources on advising people to get medical travel insurance. I will also commit to putting on the posters where they can get the medical travel insurance from.

If the business case is approved by the Financial Management Board, we’re hoping that the flexibility will be built into the funding by April 1st the following fiscal year, so April 1st during the 2013-2014 fiscal year is when we hope to have the flexibility built into the funding.

I definitely think it’s well worth advertising this. I think that it is something that I could advise the department to start working with the authorities to get the word out to people who are going to travel outside our jurisdiction, to ensure that they are carrying medical travel insurance. I think it would be well worth doing that, even if it only prevents one person from having to pay huge medical bills as a result of an accident or something like that.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Physician funding is restricted by the Financial Management Board, so that funding is not used elsewhere. However, we are making a business case for three authorities including the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, to the Financial Management Board to create flexibility within physician funding.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we can keep the Member advised. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department recognizes the value of the Midwifery Program. We’re interested in bringing the Midwifery Program back to more than just Fort Smith; across the Territories, actually. With that, we have allocated $75,000 of the Territorial Health System Sustainability Fund from the federal government in 2013-2014 to start the process.

Again, we recognize the importance of the Midwifery Program, however, there are a lot of competing priorities in the Department of Health and Social Services. This is how we’re planning on rolling it out. We have paid for a consultant to do a review of the Midwifery Program for the Northwest Territories and these numbers are what we’re looking at out of that plan. We’re going to be reviewing that, of course, but for now we have paid for the consultant. This is how the report indicates we should roll out the Midwifery Program. The expansion in Hay River will be contingent upon the completion of...

I was referring to the money that we’re putting in for it. In 2012-2013 we’re doing community consultations. We’re going to review and update the NWT Midwifery Practice Framework and Midwife Regulations. In 2012-2013 we’re also going to do the preliminary health human resources planning for midwife recruitment and training options.

The Midwifery Program is not going to be contingent on THSSI funding. THSSI funding will just be put in, the $75,000 for 2013-2014. However, the rest of the funding, which is planned for Hay River for $472,000 and Beaufort-Delta for $952,000 and expansion of the territorial Midwifery Program of $1.8 million, will be going through the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize the social work students from Aurora College, Kelly Bothamley and Jacqueline Brasseur, as well as their instructor, Susan Fitzpatrick, for the Social Work Program.

I’d also like to recognize the Page from Lutselk’e, Darian Marlowe.