Page 8-19, Health and Social Services, activity summary, information item, program delivery support, active positions.

Page 8-21, Health and Social Services, activity summary, health services programs, operations expenditure summary, $192.989 million. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I just noticed that the NWT hospitals funding is down $7 million. Maybe I could start with getting an explanation of what’s happening there. I know our expenses have not changed there.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is the reallocation of funding between the authorities that saw the move from the 2011-2012 Main Estimates to the revised, so that it went up in the hospitals because that’s where the deficits were. The reallocation from the other health and social services authorities and then we’re back on budget from back to the main estimates compared to the other main estimates there’s a slight increase.

I understand that now. I just wanted to follow up a little bit on the physicians versus the nurse practitioners to make sure I have this right. My understanding is from the Minister’s discussion, I think it might have been with my colleague Mr. Yakeleya, that there is now or there’s an intent to provide some flexibility in how authorities allocate their physician dollars, to some degree, to incorporate the possibility of nurse practitioners allocating some of the current or past physician dollars towards the nurse practitioners, given that we often fail to hire the physicians for the positions we have.

The process that we would be following is first providing direction to JLC, the Joint Leadership Council, of all of the authorities and asking them to come up with a physician recruitment plan and look at the flexibility of putting the possibility of allowing, within that plan, a role for nurse practitioners. Then once we get the plan, which we’re expecting this fall, in September, actually, we would then take that funding model for physicians, or the physician recruitment model, back to the Financial Management Board because the money that’s in physician funding is approved by the Financial Management Board.

Is there a target in terms of the portion? Are we asking for sort of a 20 percent flexibility for nurse practitioners? That sort of thing. Do we have an idea yet of what we’re looking for there?

There’s no target at this time. We don’t know. We know that a couple of authorities have used nurse practitioners and are very interested in building that flexibility into their funding, but we don’t have a target percent at this time.

I appreciate that information. It helps gives me some perspective. I wonder if the Minister would know what the experience is locally, even at the Primary Care Clinic. I know from talking to constituents that they really appreciate the nurse practitioner availability, and often, I can’t give you a proportion, but often are very happy to go to nurse practitioners as opposed to a physician. Is that experience significant, do you think, within even the Yellowknife situation, and would the thinking extend to even an enhanced use of nurse practitioners in Yellowknife?

The experience for the patients seem to be very positive in Fort Smith, Hay River, Yellowknife as indicated, and anywhere, even in the smaller health centres, where we’re using nurse practitioners, it has gone very well.

That’s really it. I guess the last part of my question was, does the Minister also see this enhancement being made available in the regional centres such as Yellowknife and the communities that he mentioned?

The request to the JLC is based on doing something at the regional centres and Yellowknife.

Thank you. Next I have Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is going to be in regard to the NWT hospitals. I see from the main estimates 2011-2012 there has been an increase to the main estimates in 2012-2013 in the amount of $1.832 million. Knowing for one that the Beaufort-Delta Health Authority runs on a deficit of about $3 million, and that’s been something that’s been consistent over the last few years, and that we have the Yellowknife authority here that also runs on a deficit, I believe, knowing that and accumulating the costs and something that’s been trending I guess over the last few years, can the Minister give me some details as to why these deficits are occurring?

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Elkin.

Thanks for the description on why these deficits have accrued. Knowing that, would the Minister look at putting those into the budget for the next year and the years following? It’s

something that has been trending over the years and it’s not changing. If we put it into the budget, we wouldn’t have to be coming back for supps for future and it would give the authorities a little bit more breathing room, a little bit less stress knowing that they do have the funds to do their job and not be worried about going over budget and getting into that deficit.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Ms. DeLancey.

No further questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have questions for the Minister and deputy minister but, unfortunately, some of these questions pre-date their positions and for that I do apologize. However, I know that the accountability is in play, because I will be pulling questions out of the Auditor General’s report that was tabled here in March of 2011, so it is very relevant in the questions in terms of what work has been done by the department since the tabled report. Within the parameters of the report, it was very well documented that there was contribution agreements in place with a number of the health authorities but there was lacking performance agreements. My question has to deal with performance agreements. Has the Minister, has the department rectified signing all authorities making them accountable for the performance of their budgets to make sure that they are delivering all the programs that they are receiving money for?