Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I once again rise to speak about the quality of medical travel services received by residents of Hay River who are not covered by the GNWT's benefit plan. Spoiler alert, Mr. Speaker: the quality is poor.
I have addressed this issue with Member's statements and in question period. I have brought it up with the department during committee meetings. I have bombarded the Minister of Health's inbox, and I have discussed this issue with him over and over again. However, Mr. Speaker, the level of service has not improved.
Last time I brought this issue up in the House, I told the story of my constituent who was informed by the medical travel office that they had booked his flight, but for the day before. Well, in the meantime, that very same constituent had to once again travel for medical reasons. This time, First Air called him and informed him that the flight was booked and it was departing in two minutes. Needless to say, that flight was missed, as well. That is the third missed flight for this one person, and they each occurred because the medical travel office failed to inform him that his flight was booked.
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, getting on the flight is only half the battle. If you have a medical appointment in Edmonton, there is a good chance you have to be at the airport in Hay River before 7:30 a.m. so you can catch the flight to Yellowknife; then you have to sit in Yellowknife and wait for your afternoon flight. If you are lucky, you fly to Edmonton, but you might be heading to Calgary for another layover before you finally get on the flight to Edmonton. If either of those two afternoon flights is delayed, you might not get to where you are going until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, making for an 18- or 19-hour travel day, and then you have to make it to your 8:00 a.m. appointment.
Mr. Speaker, I hear about this happening all the time. In addition to the problems with bookings, there are problems with the flow of information. During the seven- or eight-hour layover in Yellowknife, patients are eligible to spend the day resting at Abel House, but many of them do not know because they are never informed. When you are flying home from Edmonton, you can get a wheelchair at the airport and skip some of the long lines. I have a constituent in his 80s who stood in line at the airport for over an hour the day after heart surgery because he did not know, because no one told him.
Mr. Speaker, these issues have been brought to me over and over again since I was elected. I cannot just keep telling my constituents that I am working on it. Something has to change. I will have questions for the Minister of Health at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.