Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 11, 2021, the Minister of Health and Social Services made an announcement regarding long-term care bed projections for the NWT. Minister Green explained that the Department of Health had updated its data stream and worked with the Bureau of Statistics to redo the estimate of long-term beds needed for the NWT over the next 14 years. They concluded that the NWT does not require as many new long-term beds as they initially thought in 2015.
Mr. Speaker, as a result of this new estimate, the department also created a new prediction model to determine a new number of long-term care beds required in each NWT region. This new projection model has determined that the demand for the long-term beds in Fort Smith is greater than previous estimates. Therefore, the department has concluded that more long-term beds will now be built for Fort Smith. Fort Smith currently has 26 long-term beds in our communities. However, this new projection by the government will create another 24 new long-term beds for Fort Smith. This is a much-needed boost of infrastructure that will greatly benefit Fort Smith and the South Slave for many years to come.
Mr. Speaker, I was very happy to hear this news from Minister Green. The people of Fort Smith are also very happy with this decision. In fact, I'd like to share an excerpt from a letter I received yesterday from the president of the Fort Smith Senior Citizens' Society, Ms. Mary Pat Short, who said, "The Fort Smith Senior Citizens' Society wishes to thank Minister Green for her decision to award a 24-bed extended-care facility to Fort Smith. In Fort Smith, we have a large and steadily growing population of seniors. As each year passes, more of our seniors need the specialized care that an extended-care facility makes possible. The facility will benefit our current and future elders, and on their behalf, the Fort Smith Seniors Society expresses our deepest gratitude." Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted