Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so we have a work plan for the public administrator for NTHSSA. We don't have an action plan. He says he's going to bring forward something in the fall. Can the Minister give us a sneak preview of what that's going to look like, because people need action today, and they can't wait any longer. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, the public administrator, you know, he arrived here, he's been on the ground, he's been going out to the regions. This is where the work is happening. It is going in -- like I said, he went into the Nahendeh first. He visited with the health centre. He visited with the staff. He went into small communities. Now they're doing a pilot on, like how patients are accessing care. This is -- access to care is our priority and within our smallest communities, this is where we're hearing and we're seeing that access to care is almost next to nothing. So we are -- the action plan is going into all of the regional, all the regions, speaking with, he's met with NTHSSA, he's met with the Stanton leadership. You know, he's met with the regional -- the Yellowknife region leadership. There is a lot of work going on and, you know, the action is is the work that they're doing right now, and we did say that we will follow up with quarterly updates to the Members, standing committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, that's an engagement plan, not an action plan, and I'm very privileged to be able to get those updates but members of the public are not. These are the people we serve, these are the people who are concerned, and the staff are concerned as well. They don't feel like things are moving fast enough. So will the Minister commit to bringing forward a clear, concise, set of actions that are going to affect the entire health system, not just one area, but the entire health system? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said before, there are many things going on throughout the entire healthcare system that is -- you know, is improving within the capital, within the regions. There is capital projects that are going on. There is a significant amount of work that is going on. I have discussed this with my department on how to better front-face all of the work that the department is working on and is doing, and I'm -- you know, we're working with our COMMS people to be able to provide a front-facing -- some type of public document that is showing a lot of the different things that are going on within the NTHSSA as well with the department of health. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of health and social services. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot going on but there there's a lot of -- but what's going on is a system of health care that's failing people. We hear it every day. So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister -- can the Minister tell us what steps the public administrator is taking to guarantee that the emergency room does not close? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, not only is the public administrator worked on that area but as recently as today, I've had conversations with NTHSSA and they are working with staff. They are working with staff on contingency plans throughout any department that we start to run short on staff in any of our regions because this happens in the small communities, we have to have contingency plans, in the regional centres we have contingency plans, and in the capital. And so that work is going on, and it's engaging those staff to come up with other plans, you know, in case that there are -- there comes a time where maybe there is a shift or two that there is an emergency doctor. Well, there's other physicians. There are other trained physicians that have emergency experience. Those things are being worked on. It's like what we've been asked for evacuations. It's what we are asked for any types of emergencies. We need to plan. And that's the planning that's going on, and those things are being documented within health. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
