Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fact that Hay River mothers have to travel to Yellowknife to give birth has been allowed to continue since the spring of 2000 and it's time for this to end. As my colleague, Mrs. Groenewegen, indicated last week, Mr. Speaker, Hay River has a relatively simple solution to this situation. That is to hire two more doctors, so that expectant mothers and other residents of Hay River can be properly served by this government. With the addition of a GP anesthesiologist and a GP surgeon in Hay River, Mr. Speaker, the Hay River hospital will be able to commence birthing again and they can once again provide a wide range of services, including minor surgical procedures, to the South Slave region that have been traditionally performed in Hay River for many, many years. Mr. Speaker, the population that the Hay River Community Health Board currently services is approximately 6,000 and with deliveries, that population is sure to rise to 9,000. You cannot afford to ignore these numbers, Mr. Speaker. If Hay River was to acquire these additional doctors, this would enable Hay River's expectant mothers to stay at home when they give birth, close to their loved ones and you cannot put a dollar value on this.
I might remind everyone, Mr. Speaker, that Hay River is a tax-based community and this government is funded by tax dollars. Hay River residents have every right to expect that they can access primary health services such as obstetrics in their home community. Mr. Speaker, I have brought this issue up many times in this House and I will continue to do so until I find a solution to this matter.
Mr. Speaker, there is another service the Hay River hospital currently offers that is in jeopardy of being discontinued if we are not able to secure these two doctors, and that is dental surgery. The Hay River hospital provides dental surgery services for just about the entire NWT. Mr. Speaker, the dental clinic in Hay River has indicated that they could perform dental surgeries at the Hay River hospital for one week out of every month if we could secure these two doctors. Obviously, Mr. Speaker, there is a demonstrated need.
Mr. Speaker, whenever I rise in this House for more doctors for Hay River, I always receive the answer we are looking into it, we are aware of it, we are studying it, we've hired more consultants, and the list goes on, Mr. Speaker.
The time has come to do something about it. I remember well the name of the final report of the Minister's Forum on Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
