Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last nine years, I have frequently gotten up in this Assembly and spoken about the doctor and nurse shortages at the H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital and the Hay River Medical Clinic. I could do that today as Hay River once again finds itself short of doctors and nurses.
However, Mr. Speaker, in today's statement I would like to comment on the positive. I would like to publicly commend all of the doctors and nurses in Hay River who are working through the latest shortage in medical practitioners to provide the best possible care that they can for the residents of Hay River.
Mr. Speaker, when times are good and all of the doctors and nurses positions are fully staffed, I am not sure that people really appreciate all the hard work that medical practitioners put in. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that everyone involved in the medical profession in Hay River is working to capacity to deal with this latest staffing emergency, and I can also tell you that it is greatly appreciated.
But, Mr. Speaker, in any system that is staffed by people who are working past their point of capacity, you will see people begin to burn out. We cannot afford to lose any more doctors and nurses to burnout. I know of doctors and nurses who liked it in Hay River but could not stay because of the workload imposed by chronic staffing shortages. It is a vicious cycle. We lose doctors and nurses for whatever reasons, which causes the doctors and nurses who stay to pick up the workload, which causes them to burn out, which causes them to move on, which makes us worse off than we were before the whole cycle began.
Mr. Speaker, I know the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority is working hard to fill the empty medical professional positions in Hay River, and I know the Department of Health and Social Services will offer any assistance they can to the Hay River authority. So I say to the doctors and nurses in Hay River who are dealing with the present staffing shortage to please hang in there, help is hopefully on the way.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would just like to take a minute to publicly commend Dr. Dalia Bernard for her dedication and commitment to the people of Hay River. We are truly fortunate to have such a caring person in our community, and I hope that she will be there for many years to come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause