Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak today about Stanton Territorial Hospital, the flagship of our health care system here in the Northwest Territories.
Stanton requires immediate attention. Since becoming a Member of this House in 2003, the hospital has been riddled with issues around finances, human resources, space utilization and technical systems.
The Minister of Health and Social Services has, on numerous occasions, stood up in this House and told Members how important the Stanton Master Development Plan was to the future of this hospital. This plan has been discussed since at least 2004.
The building constructed in 1988 is now over 20 years old and requires upgrades in many areas. In 2004 a local architect and engineering firm prepared a technical assessment indicating that several building systems at the hospital are not expected to last more than five years. Five years have now come and gone and where is the department on the Stanton Master Development Plan? What systems specifically were mentioned in this technical assessment done in 2004?
It has come to my attention that no fewer than three areas of that hospital where patients were being taken care of have been shut down to deal with issues of mould and mould removal. This is very alarming. Mould can be very dangerous to patients, staff and visitors to that hospital, especially those already in frail health or those with respiratory illness. Some forms of mould can even be toxic, and I’d like to know just how prevalent is the mould
problem at Stanton Hospital. What exactly is being done about it?
Can the Minister produce the 2004 technical assessment of Stanton so that we can see what has been addressed and what is being left out? This all points to the fact that the Stanton Master Development Plan needs to be concluded as soon as possible. All I’ve seen from the previous three Health Ministers is them telling us how important it is. Minor upgrades, space utilization issues being addressed in the absence of any master development plan is bad management. This piecemeal approach to managing the flagship of our health care system has got to stop. Thank you.