Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Beaulieu.
Debates of Feb. 25th, 2013
This is page numbers 2093 – 2142 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 4th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was health.
Topics
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Madam Chair. We have some progress to report within the last month. I would like the deputy minister just to provide the details of the progress we’ve made in this area.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Debbie Delancey
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, this is a concern that is shared among all three of our territories, especially in areas where dental services are not readily available. We are having a harder and harder time to recruit dental therapists because the dental therapy school in Prince Albert was shut down.
Under the Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative, THSSI, there is a pot of money that is set aside for pan-territorial initiatives. We did propose with the other territories a co-operative project to hire staff. NWT will be the lead to look at developing a broad oral health strategy for remote communities. We were not able to do anything on this until Canada had signed off, but we do have agreement on this pan-territorial initiative.
We do have funding to hire staff for the next year to work on this. We do hope, with that funding, to come up with some cost-effective and, actually, meaningful on-the-ground initiatives that we can roll out in the small communities, in addition to some of the work that we already do. We do have a Dental Therapy Program. We do have many of our dental therapist positions filled, and we do do a fair amount of oral health work through the Healthy Families program and through the schools, but we know we need to do more. We are developing this strategy over the next year.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake
Under the territorial health services division, and particularly with home care and home care with seniors and people with disabilities going into some of the communities, I know in Inuvik the home care staff do a great job of getting out to the communities, but they are being overworked in a sense to try to keep up to the demand of home care needs. I’m sure it’s similar in some other communities or smaller communities that might not even have the home care provided.
In terms of Inuvik specifically, does the Minister know if there is a need to increase the home care, either possibly a half PY or another full PY, to address some of the other home care needs that I feel are going not above and beyond but above the capacity that we have right now?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we do need an increase in all of the home care. We are hoping to expand the home care services right across as part of the continuum of seniors’ care. We can provide perhaps some of the other financial details. For that I can ask the deputy minister to provide that.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Debbie Delancey
Thank you, Madam Chair. We are in the last stages of negotiating a new agreement with Health Canada for our home care funding to kick in on April 1, 2013. We do understand that there will be a slight increase in the funding, probably from this year’s amount of $4.6 million to $4.7 million. We’re also being told that there’s likely to be an escalator, so we should see that amount increasing. In terms of actual plans to expand services, of course, we need to wait and see what our actual budget is going to be.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake
Just staying under this division here, in terms of long-term care, I know in Inuvik we do have a waiting list of seniors that are requesting to get into the long-term care facilities and also looking at funding for the day program use. Kind of two questions, but the first one is: Does the Minister have a plan to address the waiting list of seniors wanting to get into the long-term care unit within the regional hospital? Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe
Thank you. To introduce more long-term care beds is a capital item, but we are working on that. So just to indicate what type of work we’re doing, I guess leading up to the need for
more capital, I again ask the deputy minister to provide some detail.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Debbie Delancey
Thank you, Madam Chair. As Members are aware, in our capital plan now we are expanding the number of beds that are available at the Jimmy Erasmus Centre in Behchoko. We do have capital funding to construct long-term care beds in Norman Wells and those will be the first beds available in the Sahtu. That will take some pressure off existing long-term care facilities.
At the same time, as I believe the Minister had indicated last week, we are just putting the finishing touches on a request for proposals that should be going out within the next two weeks in which we’re asking for an overall strategic plan for the continuum of care.
We realize that there are gaps in service. We realize that we need to do everything from working in partnership with the Housing Corp to do more supportive living, to expanding elders’ day programs, to eventually expanding services for when people do need to be in long-term care facilities. So part of that project will be updating the estimates based on demographics of what our long-term care needs will be over the next 25 years so that we can make sure, through the capital planning process, we continue to address them. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you. Then just moving into another area under the population health division in the area of health promotion, intervention. With the Health Promotion Fund… Sorry; I’m moving all over the place. Sorry. No further questions there, Madam Chair.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre
Thanks, Madam Chair. The question I have is under Health and Social Services Authority administration. Maybe the Minister could break down what the activities associated with the management and administration are just to help get some clarity. Thank you.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair Jane Groenewegen
Great, thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Some discussion going on here about what page we’re on. I know I had called Health and Social Services, directive, active positions, information item. Agreed?
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
The Chair Jane Groenewegen
Agreed, thank you. Health and Social Services, program delivery support, operations expenditure summary, $40.686 million. Mr. Hawkins.