Agreed.
Debates of Oct. 29th, 2024
This is page numbers of the Hansard for the 20th Assembly, 1st Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.
Topics
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Some Hon. Members
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
The Chair Richard Edjericon
Thank you. Moving on to the long-term and continuing care services, beginning on page 43 with information items on page 44. Are there any questions? I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Julian Morse Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, first, kind of a preliminary question. What is our current total number of occupied long-term care beds in Hay River, Fort Simpson, and Fort Smith, and what is the current waitlist in each of those communities? Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes
Current long-term care beds we have are 204. And then we have a number of residents residing in long-term care beds, 182. And people on the waitlist, 35 currently.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Julian Morse Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd asked about those three communities specifically, so if the Minister could just break out that information in Hay River, Fort Simpson, and Fort Smith, please.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes
Thank you. So long-term care beds in Hay River currently are 23. There's 23 beds used, and there are 6 people on the waitlist. Deh Cho, 17, and 17 people in the beds and 2 people on the waitlist. In Fort Smith, there's 26 long-term care beds, and 26 people occupying those beds, and nobody on the waitlist. Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Julian Morse Frame Lake
Okay, thank you. So by my calculations -- and I'm going to be speaking about a couple of different reports here. So we did a long-term care review in 2015 which kind of initiated the process of planning for these facilities, updated that review in 2020, which found that the 2015 review had overestimated what the demand is going to be. And so based on these new numbers, the first year that they projected demand for was 2024. And I would just note in Hay River, they estimated there was going to be 35, a demand of 35; in Fort Simpson, they estimated there was going to be a demand of 25; in Fort Smith, they estimated there was going to be a demand of 33. So in every case in those three communities, the 2020 review, which was an update of the 2015, still overestimated what the demand was going to be.
So considering that the projections have been shown in multiple cases of reanalysis, one of the reanalyses is by me but, I mean, I'm -- I'm comparing numbers to numbers here. In both of these cases, to have been -- the estimates have been -- shown to be too high. Does the department feel it would be advisable to reassess these numbers and approach prior to moving forward with construction of new facilities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are currently working on the review of the bed projections. I think there was a commitment that this would be done every five years, and we are currently working on these -- this current, the bed projections. And those numbers are also going to help guide us with the projects that are on here that are in the planning stages, so I'll leave it at that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Julian Morse Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in particular -- well, maybe I'll get into specifics on this one. So I note that there -- can the Minister give us an update as to where they're at with construction of the Hay River facility.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes
Thank you. I will pass that over to the director, Mr. Clarke McQueen.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Chris Clarke Mcqueen
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, we are in the design process, and we have committed to doing community engagement and have gone now twice to Hay River to do design workshop engagements to incorporate the various desires of the community. And we are anticipating -- so we are anticipating that we will have -- the RFP for design services that went out in 2023 should be completed by October -- or should be completed by September of 2025. And then after that, we will be going out for tender for the facility, then we will be going into construction documentation phase, doing the drawings for the building, and then in 2025 going out for tender for construction of the facility.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Julian Morse Frame Lake
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. So in that process, is it going to be possible for reassessment of the planning for this facility in considering the assessment of the projections that the department is going to be undertaking? So I guess what I'm asking in plain words is are we ensuring that the facility is right size for the demand prior to moving forward with construction?
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, a lot of these projections, you know, when we look at what we have on the waitlist, we use a lot of the data within -- that we have in our system. We initiated intereye, which is a system that will help also. And for more further detail, I can pass it on to the ADM if that's okay with you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 29th
Perry Heath
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the good news with planning is -- in Hay River is we have a design that's modular in nature. So we were lucky enough to work with the town of Hay River to get a site that's large enough that if we need to add additional beds in the future, we can. But right now we have a plan which is shown in the plan to build 24. We have a design that's incorporating the ability to expand and move forward. The good news is with the bed projections from 2025, all of our new facilities and all the planning will incorporate that knowledge of the bed projections going forward. And our model for building facilities is modular in nature. We can add 12 beds here and an extra 12 beds somewhere else if necessary.
The other thing that's unique about or -- not necessarily unique but that's going on in Hay River is there's an existing facility, Woodland Manor, that's reaching the end of its useful life that at some point in the future we're going to have to make investment in. We're currently investing in critical pieces in that infrastructure to make sure it lasts -- we get the most useful life out of it so we can get the new facility on -- up and running and operating. And then in the future, we'll have the ability in the new site, which just happens to be across the street from the health centre, to add and build a long-term - more long-term care beds if and when the bed projections materialize. Thank you, Mr. Chair.