Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been no prioritize on locum workers or agency workers. Mr. Speaker, we have to follow the collective agreement. We cannot bargain outside the collective agreement on indeterminate employees and therefore you know, this -- and which leaves us if we don't have any indeterminate employees, then we have to go to the next steps which we go for terms, and then if it impacts units being closed then we would discuss that with the union and get the consent to be able to look at agencies. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by the Member for Yellowknife North on June 13th, 2024, regarding Wellness and Addictions Recommendations the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness: Healing Voices, which took place on April 30, 2013. Specifically, the Member asked if the department had addressed the recommendations made in the Healing Voices Report.

The Minister’s forum consisted of 12 members who traveled to 21 communities to listen to Northerners about what they felt were the best ways to stop the destructive impacts of alcohol, drugs...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will have to get back to the Member on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within the NTHSSA, the primary care sits within NTHSSA and the doctors work within the NTHSSA. And so the doctors have -- you know, they have the medical director. They have the territorial medical director, they have the COO, they have the CEO, and they have the governing council. So they have very many levels that if they're not being heard, you know, they have very many levels. And if the -- you know, and if they're still not being heard after they've gone all the way up to the governing council, then that's when -- then, you know, the discussions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the chair of each of the regional wellness council is a member of the governing council, so that is the governing council. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, alongside with the CEO and the deputy minister as well as the COO of Stanton, had a town hall for Stanton staff so not -- we did not have one with the Yellowknife region as of yet which the primary care falls under. What we heard were a lot of operational issues. We also heard a lot of, you know, even just internal how, like, funding for different things within. We did hear leave, you know, and that's where the commitment was made to review the policy. You know, there is a sense of frustration, and I acknowledge that, and so what we are taking away from...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those employees that are unionized employees, they have -- you know, when they apply for leave, it is the expectation that as the employer that they do follow the collective agreement, so 18.02-2(2) does speak to that. And so it gives them two weeks to respond to any employee that puts in leave. And if there are scheduling needs that need to be done in this advance, that those employers notify the union and that those -- they still have to have a set date as to when leave is put in and they still have to follow a two-week, and they have to respond in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within the health care system, there are areas where health practitioners have to provide 24-hour care and within that health care system, those practitioners, nurses, you know, they fall under, you know, unionized employees and they are allotted time based on their years of service. So the longer employees have way more time. You know, and we've heard -- and I know we have -- there is an acknowledgement within the health authority that within that 24-hour care model that sometimes it's unfortunate but that not everybody can access all of their leaves due...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during my time as the Minister so far within this year, you know, we have excellent staff, you know, and, yes, they are -- they are tired and, yes, there are, you know, very -- not just at Stanton. In the regions, you know, you most recently hear about in the regions we have, you know, obstetrics closures, we have nursing stations that are on emergency services. And so what we're -- you know, like, what we're trying to do is we're looking at it as a whole of territory because as I said in the very beginning, this is a whole of territory issue, and Stanton...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, that level of information on record moving is very operational. And right now what we do know, and I have mentioned it in this house before, that our systems do not communicate with Alberta where a lot of our referrals go. So there is, you know, work going on right now to -- and I mentioned it in previous sessions that we are looking to upgrade the EMR, electronic medical records system, within the Northwest Territories. And with all of those options that have been raised by Members have been highlighted as things that we need to ensure that when...