Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Michael Miltenberger.
Probably one of the concerns we have had raised most often at our constituency office, and just from meeting people in the street and talking to them -- townsfolk of Hay River -- is the wait time to get into the Hay River Medical Clinic. That seems to be the hot topic right now in Hay River. With all due respect to our CEO and our board, they have devised a new plan where they are trying to resolve issues like backlog and avoid no-shows. Certainly people have a responsibility for those kinds of things, and there is always several sides to any given story. I just want to give you and example of what seems to be coming down to almost a work-to-rule.
We should have six doctors in Hay River. We have three: Two are leaving, and we have one half-year locum. I know the Minister can't wave a magic wand and make doctors appear; however, this is compounding the problem. The people of Hay River received in their mailboxes recently something called walk-in process. It says, "The walk-in clinic is not for prescription renewals, reviewing test results, requesting referrals, no-show for medical scheduled appointments, and no WCB follow-up. You can't do a walk-in to quit smoking; you can't do a walk-in for wart removal, dandruff, lumps or bumps that you have had for years or any ailments that you have had for six weeks or more." This was sent to every household in Hay River. The walk-in clinic in Hay River is kind of like "come take your chances." If the doctor is busy at the end of the day at 5:00, you could have sat there all day, but they clear the office and say go home, come back another day and try. If you try to book an appointment, they tell you that you have to wait until next week for this time slot. It is just this new regime, which I understand is supposed to help, but I have been in Hay River a long time and I remember the good old days when we paid doctors on a fee-for-service basis and nobody got sent home without seeing the doctor.
I just want to know, realistically, as the Minister of Health and Social Services, is there anything that you can do to help us address this, or is this something that has to be managed at a local level? Thank you.