Thank you, Mr. Chair. A lot of questions there. Just to be clear, the RFP for Stanton was prepared to ensure the broadest potential options for bidders to develop the most affordable and efficient proposal. The procurement process that we went through does not limit the redevelopment solutions. A full range of proposals were considered for Stanton, including renovation of the existing building and provision of a completely new hospital. A new build proposal was considered, provided that the proposed solution did not include demolition of the existing hospital, and addressed the GNWT’s requirements with respect to

the

future

development

and

long-term

maintenance.

The BHP proposal included an opportunity to repurpose the existing Stanton Hospital at no cost and no risk to the GNWT. The developer in the BHP proposal assumes a 30-year commercial redevelopment marketing and tenancy for the

redevelopment of this old hospital under a separate lease agreement with the GNWT. The GNWT will retain ownership of the facility, land and parking at the end of the 30 years. The agreement to lease includes revenue sharing with the GNWT over the 30-year life and also provides limits to ensure that any redevelopment is not incompatible with the delivery of health care services from the overall Stanton site. All security for the redevelopment is being provided by the developer’s project company.

At the end of the day, when we were initially looking at the redevelopment of Stanton, we recognized that the bones of that building, the existing Stanton Building, are still good and there’s still an opportunity for the building. But, as I indicated, the RFP process was such that it allowed for options. The option that is before us came and it was the best proposal as far as efficiency, value for money, and it is the proposal that we’d be moving forward with.

I hear you on the staffing. The building is larger and it will require some additional staff. But as we are seeing with all expansions in all program delivery areas, there’s the “I wish I had,” there’s the “I would like to have,” “it would be nice to have,” “I need,” and that is what actually is required in order to ensure that we don’t go backwards. We look at those numbers. We try to assess those numbers, program areas. This isn’t about program expansion, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re not putting in positions in light of this incredibly tight fiscal environment that are expansion services but required to meet needs.

We are doing the thorough analysis of Stanton and future Stanton, recognizing that the building has room for growth over the years dependent on changes in populations, changes in demographics, all those types of things. So some positions might come later, but we anticipate there will be some positions that are going to be needed right out of the gate. We’re doing that work to make sure that we can present a case that will be accepted by the future Assembly to support additional required physicians in that facility.

With respect to portable equipment, the ones on this particular page are related to the evergreening of equipment that has basically reached the end of its useful lifecycle. But I do hear the Member on his desire for two dialysis units in the South Slave. I will say that the Fort Smith facility, when it was built and designed, there is a room where a dialysis unit could be placed, and we are always monitoring and always evaluating to see when and if it’s going to be appropriate to move a dialysis unit back to Fort Smith. There will need to be a certain level of demand in order to justify positions and the intense training that dialysis nurses have to undergo. A nurse from a regular unit untrained cannot provide dialysis, so we need to make sure that there’s

nursing coverage to meet the expectations of our clients, which requires a certain number of clients to make it h

appen. It’s probably going to have to be a

couple nurses. A dialysis unit is not one nurse and it can’t run with one nurse.

Keeping all those complications and difficulties in mind, we look at our numbers. I hope we never get to a position where we meet those numbers in Fort Smith, but it could happen, and we are prepared to go that direction if and when we reach those numbers. In the meantime, we have to work with the residents who are affected, whether they’re going to Yellowknife or whether they’re going to Hay River, to find solutions that work for them for their health and well-being, recognizing that being a distance from dialysis can prove difficult.

I think I answered all the questions.