Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by sending greetings back home to my family. Mr. Speaker, although Inuvik does have a hospital, not all services and treatments are available. Many people have to travel to Yellowknife or to southern Canada for specialized services. In some instances, Mr. Speaker, a patient is treated by a physician in southern Canada and advised to come back to follow up in a few weeks or months. The follow-up appointment often consists of a three-hour trip and an overnight stay for a 15-minute appointment, where the specialist determines that the initial treatment was successful. I cannot help but think, Mr. Speaker, that we could be using telehealth technology in many of these situations.
Mr. Speaker, I will show an example to illustrate the point. One of my constituents broke his leg and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon in Edmonton, where his broken leg was set. He was sent home to recover and a physician in Inuvik removed the cast after time. The specialist had stated that he wanted to see him again in three months, so an appointment was again arranged in southern Canada. The specialist reviewed an x-ray and pronounced the leg healed.
Mr. Speaker, there should be a way of using video conferencing technology and electronic transfer of diagnostic images to link the doctor and patient in the Northwest Territories with a specialist in southern Canada. Not only would it reduce the cost of travel, but it would also provide a better standard of care to the patients in the North.
I recognize, Mr. Speaker, that not all services and treatments lend themselves to this type of technology, but there are areas where we could focus attention and take a few small steps.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health and Social Services recently presented the Northwest Territories Health Services Report, 2000. The report was prepared to inform interested parties about the patterns of utilization of health services in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, I think it would be useful to analyze that information with a view to determining what types of services might be provided or enhanced with the use of telehealth technology at the community level.
Many First Nations governments have projects underway where technology is used to enhance the care at the community level. These include televisitation for patients in the hospital, education and conferencing support to occupational and speech therapists who travel to provide services in the community. Mr. Speaker, I will be following up with questions on this topic at the appropriate time. Thank you.
-- Applause