Just the other day, I was asked questions about expanding one shift in Hay River for the dialysis services that were there, recognizing that will require additional staff and additional backup. We have some early numbers on that, and adding a shift could be as much as $600,000.
When you think about providing dialysis services in a community like Norman Wells, it would require a number of machines, because you can't have one; you have to have a backup machine, even if you don't use it. You have to have adequate numbers of staff. We are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to deliver a program where the cost-benefit of that may not be there.
I'm not saying that the population of the Northwest Territories isn't going to grow and we won't get there, but as a system that is running a $90 million accumulated deficit, we have to think carefully about how we are investing our money, and we need to know that that money is supporting the healthcare of our residents and that we are getting best value for money. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.