Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Stanton Master Plan
It is noted that there is no long-term planning in place related to the future of the North’s flagship health care facility, Stanton Territorial Hospital. At this time, committee members are being asked to approve piecemeal capital projects without any inkling of how these projects interrelate to a master development plan for Stanton.
Members of the committee are aware that some wards are overcrowded and that patient privacy is slowly being eroded. We also hear that medical and administrative staff at Stanton is being asked to work in less-than-ideal conditions.
The Minister has committed to following through on the development and finalization of the Stanton master development plan
and has made it one of
the priorities of the newly appointed public administrator for Stanton. The committee wants to make it very clear that we will have great difficulty in recommending future approvals of capital projects for Stanton in the absence of the master development plan.
Support for Home Care and Respite Services
The committee supports the home care programs offered through the authorities and their partners. These programs are instrumental in keeping people in their own homes for as long as possible and keeping health care costs under control.
The committee is also very pleased to support the expansion of respite care services to communities outside of Yellowknife in the 2008–2009 fiscal year. Many families do a fantastic job in addressing the medical and care needs of their loved ones, but these same people need a break every once in a while.
On a related matter, it is noted that policies under the Income Support programs, administered by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, do not allow employed persons to stay with family members renting public housing, when those family members may require some assistance in maintaining their independence, without using the employed person’s income in calculating the rental rate.
It is known that seniors living in their own homes utilizing home care and assistance from family members to maintain their independence are less of a cost to government than those who move into government-run long-term care facilities.
The committee will be making a recommendation to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to change Income Support policies so that with appropriate approvals from medical professionals, persons who move in to provide assistance to family members in social housing will not impact unit rental rates.
Electronic Medical Records and Interoperable Electronic Health Records
The committee notes that the Department of Health and Social Services is solely responsible for the costs associated with the development of the electronic medical records, and that Canada Health Infoway is paying the bulk of the costs associated with the development of the interoperable electronic health records. It’s hoped that the eventual rollout of these two systems will help the medical community in accessing information and improve patients’ medical outcomes and, at the same time,
reduce the administrative costs and burdens for the department and health authorities.
It’s hoped that the committee will be able to see the implementation of these new systems during the life of the 16th Assembly.
Mr. Chair, I would like to pass the reading of the report on to my colleague Mr. Abernethy.