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Petition
Presented March
11, 2008
Long term care facility for Conception Bay North
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The hon. the Member for
Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
I want to present a
petition today to the hon. House of Assembly of the
Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament
assembled. Seeing that this is the first time that this
petition has appeared, I will read the petition:
WHEREAS
Conception Bay North was the number one priority for a
long-term care facility for the entire Province in
2000-2002; and
WHEREAS
Conception Bay North in 2006 has slipped to sixth place
on the list, behind Corner Brook, Clarenville, Happy
Valley-Goose Bay, Lewisporte and St. John’s; and
WHEREAS
the present structures need to be replaced with a modern
facility; and
WHEREAS
there is a tremendous requirement for additional
facilities for our seniors;
WHEREUPON
the undersigned, your petitioners, call upon all Members
of the House of Assembly to urge government to reassess
their decision to drop Conception Bay North on the
priority list and commit to all residents of the area
that the assessment of 2000-2002 be implemented and a
new facility be built in the Conception Bay North area;
and
As is duty bound your
petitioners will ever pray.
Mr. Speaker, over the
past several years now - that assessment was done back
in 2000-2002 and it was done by officials of the
department. It was to the point, Mr. Speaker, where even
the size of the facility - they determined that their
requirements were up to 240 beds. It was so far
progressing along that even proposals were sent to the
three major centres out there, Carbonear, Harbour Grace,
and Bay Roberts, asking them how they would handle the
situation if government decided they would go one way or
the other. Not only that, it was even determined that
possibly it might be constructed adjacent to the
Carbonear General Hospital, and the expenses probably
would have been less with the heating and so on.
Mr. Speaker, over the
past three years I have asked different Ministers of
Health and Community Services, either in the House or
through the Estimate Committees, what happened that
Conception Bay North was dropped from a top priority in
the Province to sixth place? I have yet to be able to
get any answers. I understand there were no further
assessments done to say that it was inappropriately done
in the beginning. It was only, I think, when the
Minister of Finance was going around - the Mayor of
Carbonear even mentioned the facility and how the other
facilities were not adequate anymore. We referenced the
Interfaith Home, the Harbour Lodge, and I know back a
few years ago the Pentecostal Home in Clarke’s Beach,
they were all to be combined together into this one new
facility. Mr. Speaker, by having this facility I can
assure you it takes the burden away from Carbonear
General because all too often beds are filled by
residents and patients who could be out in a long-term
care facility whereas they are occupying spaces in the
Carbonear General Hospital.
Mr. Speaker, I am calling
upon government today to recommit to Conception Bay
North, to the long-term care facility. I am not standing
here today saying that the other six facilities that I
mentioned, the other six communities, that they do not
need it, sure they need it and all the power to them if
they get their facilities. I understand, and I think
Corner Brook and Clarenville have been on the list.
Mr. Speaker, I want to
call upon my three neighbouring districts, all
represented now by Ministers of the Crown, the District
of Trinity-Bay de Verde, the District of
Carbonear-Harbour Grace, the District of Harbour Main
and my colleague from Bellevue district, that they will
all come together and ask government if they would
reconsider and at least have another assessment done to
see what happened, why Conception Bay North has been
dropped from the list.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. |
