Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee notes with approval that this is the first budget since the amalgamation of the departments of Health and Social Services. Committee Members hope that the new combined department will be better able to provide facilities to care for NWT residents' physical and mental health needs.
New Technologies
Members welcomed new initiatives such as capital funding for distance health system technologies, as advised by the Special Committee on Health and Social Services. This specific project will allow for remote consultations between Edmonton and Yellowknife, as well as for transmission of radiology, ultrasound and electrocardiogram data between Inuvik and Yellowknife. The committee recognizes that such initiatives may save a great deal of expense in the long term, and will improve the efficient delivery of health services to northerners. Committee Members encourage the department to pursue further developments in this area.
Alternatives To Institutions
Sometimes, there are alternatives to building institutional facilities. An example would be to consider providing home care to elders, rather than building a new elders' facility. Committee Members urge the department, however, to ensure that choices to use alternatives such as home care rather than building new facilities are made only after full and thorough consultation with those affected, with interested organizations and with all community leaders, including the communities' MLA, in the communities affected. Choosing such alternatives should never be done just to cut the budget.
In one specific example, previously mentioned in capital planning and consultation process, a proposed elders' facility in Gjoa Haven was removed from the capital plan in favour of providing home care to the Kitikmeot elders who would have used that facility. Committee Members felt that the department did not consult adequately with all community leaders, especially the MLA for that area. As a result, the committee feels that deleting the project from the capital plan was not appropriate, and that the project should be reinstated.
Hospitals New And Old
Committee Members note that projects for building new regional hospitals in Iqaluit and Inuvik have been added to the capital plan. These facilities will be of great benefit to the Baffin and Inuvik regions respectively, and the committee is looking forward to their completion. Cost-sharing assistance provided by the federal government for these projects is also worthy of note. Also, the committee is looking forward to the completion of the analysis regarding the proposed Keewatin regional health facility. If such a project will indeed be a net benefit to the people of the Keewatin and of the NWT in general, then committee Members will look forward to seeing the proposal in next year's capital plan.
Along with these new facilities, the committee encourages the department to continue to examine providing capital funding to the Stanton Yellowknife Hospital to provide services to northerners that are now only available in southern Canada. Often, the cost of new capital equipment may be more than offset by savings in travel expenses for patients. Committee Members recognize that there may not be enough demand to justify some equipment, such as a CT scanner, perhaps. But the department should constantly be looking for ways to provide more cost-effective health services to northerners in the north. Medical travel costs are increasing, and whether this is due to increased utilization or increased costs, any initiative which can reduce this item is worth examining. This issue may also become increasingly crucial if there are further cutbacks to health services in Alberta and other provinces which receive NWT referrals.
Birthing Centres
The committee again discussed the pilot project of a birthing centre in Rankin Inlet. Members are looking forward to the analysis of the project when its two-year term is completed in the next few months. It is hoped that such centres can be provided in other communities.
By allowing northern women to have their babies closer to home, birthing centres could reduce the social costs of disruption to families resulting from mothers being away from home for weeks at a time. Also, birthing centres may well be a more cost-effective means of serving women's health needs. In fact, if the project is deemed successful, committee Members would like to see future plans for health centre construction or renovation include space for possible birthing centres. This would allow these centres to be established in communities at future dates, when the community is ready for such a centre, without significant added expense.
Social Services Planning
In last year's review, the committee made a strong recommendation concerning the capital planning strategy of the Department of Social Services. Committee Members were glad to see the new combined department develop a new capital planning framework, which will be implemented in 1995. While Members have not yet been able to study the framework in detail, the mere fact that such a strategy exists is gratifying.
Committee Members appreciate that alcohol and drug abuse is one of the most serious problems facing northerners. There are a number of good facilities and programs available for helping NWT residents overcome abuse. However, many are not used to capacity and yet some northerners go south for treatment instead. The committee encourages the department to find ways to convince northerners in need of such treatment to make use of the facilities here. Not only will money be saved, but local and culturally-relevant programs may very well be more effective.