I think the Member is aware I am committed to working as hard as I can, as the Minister of Health and Social Services, to maintain
the access to services and increase it wherever possible. We are constantly juggling that all the time.
I
think the shortage of nurses in smaller
communities is not necessarily about dollars, either. We have communities like Behchoko
,
which is
located right outside of a centre that has everything, and we still have a hard time recruiting and retaining health care professionals. It’s a constant challenge. It’s a national and international issue.
I have indicated to the Members in the House, during the time I’ve been a Minister, that I am working on looking at that issue in more detail. I am excited about the challenge. I constantly talk to my officials about that, about how can we re-look at the staffing model we have for nurses, doctors and other health care providers to see how we could increase the access to communities with the resources we have. I feel that is possible. I think there has to be something we can do about there being 24 family doctors in Yellowknife and none in Inuvik region at a given time under certain circumstances.
I think the proposal that Minister Miltenberger has in refocusing government, where we will be re-looking at the Health and Social Services board.... These are not cost-saving measures; these are measures to re-look at how we are delivering our health and social services and other programs, to see how to do better with the resources we have.
I’m mindful of the fact that the Premier and Cabinet are totally committed to being fiscally responsible. Going forward, we have to be vigilant in the way we spend our health care dollars and every other dollar. I see it as an opportunity for us to look at new ways of doing that.
I have to tell the Member that I have not got that full plan. I am hoping for, and working toward having, that plan for the next business-plan cycle. I look forward to having more discussions on that.