Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe the funding that it provides to NWT Disability Council does provide for staff that can work with families to try and help them navigate the different areas where there is program dollars or funding. Many of our different departments -- I know, like, within ECE and housing have different areas, you know, for disabilities. We also, you know, through the health system referral system, you know, if there's referrals for children that need services, that's usually -- it's just kind of spread out all over in different areas. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that has not come up in conversations that I've had with the TCSA at this time. One of the areas, we have Yellowknife and we have Hay River that currently provide dialysis. One of the struggles that we do have is that putting a dialysis machine to some of the smaller communities -- not smaller communities, but even in Inuvik, we're redoing a feasibility there to see if there -- if there's -- the numbers do meet what we would need to put in there. And the other part of it is is that we already -- you know, I think with the current dialysis nursing specialty that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories, there isn't a jurisdiction that's comparable to us, and with the changes to team-based care currently going through the rest of Canada, at this time there isn't one place that's ahead of us so there is no fixed panel size that's appropriate across all communities or care models. So panel sizes must consider patient complexity, the members on the care team, scope of practice, the environment where the care is being provided, and administrative support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I will turn that over to ADM Mathison.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am currently just waiting for the finalization of the first year's analysis, so I don't have that information. I should have that within this next month. However, we do know that there are currently, as of January 15th, 3,721 individuals registered for benefits as seniors in the Northwest Territories. And we have 894 individuals registered for the 2025-2026 benefits.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the doctor is the one that has to sign the patient travel escort requirement. The requirement under the guidelines, they are to make sure that they -- when they order the escort that it falls within. It's their -- they're the ones who are supposed to order the escort based on the criteria in the medical travel for scheduled appointments. That medical travel policy that the MLA is referring to is for medical -- for scheduled medical, not air ambulance, not ground ambulance; it's for scheduled appointments. When somebody has a specialist appointment...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the funding that goes to this line item, it goes to the NWT Disabilities Council and the Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, when the new hospital was built, it was built to have a CAT scan in there. I don't have any information as to why or the decision-making behind only a CAT scan, but I do know that as of right now we are looking at that for Yellowknife. I believe we are doing a feasibility study right now, and it is -- it's something that we kind of -- we are working through that because with the federal budget allotments that were announced that there's allocated, you know, hospital, you know, capital funding, these types of things in the federal budget for the North, we need...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the department has made this commitment. Fully functional means teams are appropriately staffed so that care is sustainable and relationship based. My goal is to progress towards an improved patient attachment to care teams while ensuring implementation is safe, sustainable, and responsive. The first step is the publication of the North Star primary care and community care framework in May 2026 of this year. Once the framework is public, the department will focus on developing guidelines for patient attachment and setting clearer expectations for team...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would have to follow up on that question and get back to...