Lesa Semmler

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 61-20(1): Remuneration of Essential Staff During an Evacuation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we were moving along with the planning parts of the long-term care plan for the Inuvik hospital; however, part of that planning came up with infrastructure needs within the current structure of our hospital. So looking at the age of the building, knowing that we were going to be adding on, there are some other things within the facility that are going to need upgrades. So that has delayed the RFP, and we're hoping to have that out hopefully within the new year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time, the department's focus remains on sustaining and strengthening the existing midwifery programs in Fort Smith and Hay River, which are foundational to our midwifery care in the Northwest Territories. Expansion is not solely a matter of funding, but it also depends on the availability of qualified midwives, community readiness, and the ability to maintain high quality, culturally safe care. Recruitment and retention challenges continue to be a significant barrier, and efforts are underway to address these through targeted strategies, including...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sorry, Mr. Speaker. The midwifery leaders at the department and the health authority have explored what it would take to expand service to Behchoko and a second community within the existing fiscal resources. These discussions led to a thoughtful and holistic proposal of the future expansion of midwifery services. However, the level of financial investment required, combined with the ongoing recruitment and retention challenges, makes the expansion beyond the current service not possible right at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Member's questions. As the health Minister, you know, I -- as a Member, you know, I know that this has been kicking around for many, many years, and changes to our bed projections have changed over the last two governments. And so what we are -- you know, we're moving forward with a data-driven process, and that data-driven process has landed us to the 20-bed addition to the current hospital. And so that is where we're moving forward with the midlife upgrades and the feasibility study with, you know, possibility of adding that CT scan into this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time, where we are is we're finalizing the preliminary feasibility study, and I'm actually going to be briefed on that next week for the CT scan. And this would be part of the larger RFP that we talked about in the capital of the long-term care and the midlife upgrade. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as Tlicho government, as a self-governing Indigenous nation, has indicated through the Tlicho Community Service Agency that they are not ready to integrate formal midwifery services into their system at this time. We must respect their position and continue to work collaboratively to support the community health priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sorry. Can you repeat the question, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when our physicians are onboarded, they are provided with some orientation. I'm not sure the extent of that orientation. However, we do have a lot of locums that come in. The process through a physician, and that is the problem I think that they're relating to, is not everything is an insured service. So if it's not an insured service, then it's not covered by our health care and therefore if there are certain things that a locum may say that -- a patient may come in and ask for them, I can't speak to what these things are unless I have details. So what I...

Yes, Mr. Speaker.