Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of the shortage of health care workers in the Northwest Territories. Today I want to speak about one consequence in particular.
There is a crisis in Hay River and across the Northwest Territories and that is a desperate shortage of resources supporting dental surgery. The hospital in Hay River cannot retain sufficient nursing staff which means that in just two years dental operating room time has been cut back by 60 percent.
The last dental surgery in Hay River was performed on June 5th and, despite a waiting list of 141 patients that is growing by the day, the next surgery will not be until November 17th again reduced probably three-and-a-half days from nine-and-a-half days.
The H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital in Hay River serves 17 communities including Hay River. According to reports we received, there are children in these communities who cannot eat properly because the nerves in their teeth are exposed. Mr. Speaker, this is not inflammatory rhetoric. This is information supplied by someone who would know: one very fed-up dental clinic office manager.
There is no use travelling to Yellowknife or Inuvik for surgery because their waiting lists are almost as long. Even if they could get an appointment, it is too expensive for many people in the communities to make a special trip into Hay River because medical travel does not cover dental surgery. Heading down south is so expensive that it is completely out of the question.
The problem is only going to worsen this fall as community nurses who perform routine checkups on school children diagnose more dental conditions requiring dental surgery. This situation is already at a crises level.
Antibiotics and painkillers can only be used for so long before they themselves become a health risk, especially for children and seniors. This government must find a solution. Dental health is directly related to general health. If people cannot chew and subsequently properly digest their food, over a period of time their health and well-being will suffer. We know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I commend the extraordinary efforts that our northern dental professionals and clinics go to in terms of creating awareness and contributing to preventative initiatives in dental care.
When situations deteriorate and surgery is required, this government has a duty and an obligation to ensure that the necessary services and treatments are available. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions and follow-up to this to the Minister of Health and Social Services today. Thank you.