Mr. Speaker, I am in receipt of a return to written question from the Honourable Glen Abernethy, Minister of Health and Social Services, to Mr. Dolynny, a question asked February 24, 2014, regarding housekeeping cleaning budgets in NWT health care facilities.

Housekeeping budgets are tracked by each health and social services authority (HSSA) per fiscal year and are not broken down by facility or patient room. As such, budgets encompass the individual HSSA as a whole, which includes all regional health care facilities as well as administrative and office space. Please note that Stanton Territorial Health Authority (STHA) and the Beaufort-Delta HSSA (BDHSSA) have some housekeeping services privately contracted. This is reflected in their budget calculations. Additionally, the budgets for the Yellowknife, Sahtu and Dehcho HSSAs and the Tlicho Community Services Agency (TCSA) only reflect housekeeping supplies.

Housekeeping cleaning dollars per in-patient visit cannot be accurately calculated as the budgets are not broken down by facility or in-patient visit.

Furthermore, health care facility cleaning time is not tracked by in-patient visits, as cleaning of the entire facility is ongoing throughout the day.

Staff turnover rates are tracked by HSSA, not by facility. Furthermore, staff turnover rates are only available from 2009-10. Rates for STHA are not available, as all housekeeping services are contracted. Rates for BDHSSA only reflect those for in-house housekeeping.

Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a document titled “Housekeeping Cleaning Budgets in the NWT Health Care Facilities” outlining the total dollar amount for HSSA housekeeping cleaning expenditures from 2005-06 through 2013-14 and staff turnover rates in housekeeping for each HSSA from 2009-10 through 2013-14.