Thank you, Madam Chair. I also agree with my colleague from Weledeh here to a certain degree. There is a definite need. What we’re seeing here today is just a very small glimpse of what potentially might happen. We’re hearing numbers from the Minister of $20 million investment in the future, but we’re talking a much more larger project than that moving forward.
I have grave concerns myself as to what are we going to do in the interim. We’ve heard the word “flagship,” and I believe it is our flagship in our delivery of premier health care services in the Northwest Territories.
That said, that building, that infrastructure was designed for only about 10,000 visits per year, and it’s clear from the administration that we’re doing twice that. We’re doing about 20,000 visits per year. This building is well beyond its capacity today and I am very fearful that we’re putting at risk patient care, even though I know what we’re delivering there is ultimate care.
The people that are working there, I commend what they’re doing. We saw physiotherapists, eight of them, working out of the size of a closet and you can’t have that. You can’t continue on that pathway. So I agree with Mr. Bromley; we need to have a serious look.
We’re seeing some commitment here, but as I am well aware in government here, I hear the word planning, feasibility study. That means it might get done; it might not get done when there are competing priorities as things come up. So unless I see something firm and fast on a budget, in my mind it’s a potential and I will leave it at that.
Madam Chair, my question has more to do with the Electronic Medical Records System Project where we see a line entry of an appropriation of a little over $2 million. I realize that this has been a multi-year, multi-term commitment. I know we’ve got federal funding. If I can get some explanation here as to where we are at with this EMR total budget and what does this $2.9 million mean in terms of the scope and detail we are at today with EMR. Thank you, Madam Chair.