Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about a situation that has come to my attention in my constituency office from numerous constituents. Mr. Speaker, it has to do with the delivery of specialist health services. In theory, it would be a great achievement to attract medical specialists to the Northwest Territories Stanton Territorial Hospital and to service people of the NWT in their home territory and avoiding things such as the high cost of travel, accommodation when they have to go to the city, separating families when they need medical attention.
Mr. Speaker, when a new discipline or specialist service is brought on stream here at Stanton, what is expected is that anyone who is a resident here who had previously been seeing a specialist in southern Canada would then automatically begin to see that specialist. In order to justify having that specialist, it is necessary to ensure they have a caseload that would warrant their attendance and residency here in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, like I said, in theory this is a wonderful achievement and it is a great idea, but the complicating factor in this is that some people have been receiving medical treatment from a specialist in the south over a number of years. They may have a chronic illness that has required them to establish a doctor/patient relationship with a specialist who knows that patient, who knows their case well, and an argument can certainly be made for the merit of continuity of care and the comfort it would give that patient knowing that they can continue to see the doctor who knows them and who knows their case.
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what the solution is to this problem, but it has arisen numerous times in the last month in my office and in Hay River. I am
not sure, again, how we can address that, because, of course, we do want to have those specialist services available here. But when they are something new that is brought on stream, how do we deal with those people who already have a longstanding relationship with a physician in the south? Later today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services on that and see if we can come up with a system that would be fair to everyone. Thank you.