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Petition
Presented May 6, 2009
Dialysis Unit for Western Newfoundland
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MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Opposition House Leader.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I take this opportunity
to present another petition with respect to the
dialysis, or the lack of dialysis service provision in
the Southwestern part of the Province. The communities
impacted, of course, would be LaPoile, Grand Bruit, Rose
Blanche, Burnt Islands, Isle aux Morts, Margaree-Fox
Roost, Port aux Basques, Cape Ray, the Codroy Valley
area. We have currently about nine, I believe it is, as
I speak today, people who constantly need dialysis
services.
They travel right now
from that area to either Stephenville or Corner Brook
for the service, and that involves three days a week.
They leave home in the morning. They leave very early,
sometimes well before sun-up, in order to get there in
time to arrive at Corner Brook. They are hooked on to
the machines, and they stay there for numbers of hours.
Then they get returned to their home again, usually
after dark again.
That is the process. We
all know that it takes its physical toll on the
individual. We know that there is an emotional toll, as
well, on them and their families. We also know that
there is a financial toll, because it is not just a case
of slipping in and getting in to Corner Brook and
hopping on the machine. Many of these people need
someone to go with them for support and guidance,
particularly if they are elderly people. Of course,
anyone who is familiar with the geography and the
weather here knows that they do this 365 a year. That
involves some pretty nasty weather when it comes to the
Wreckhouse area. It is nationally known for what
happens.
These people cannot play
around with the weather. If they are supposed to be in
there on a Monday and a Wednesday, if they know that the
forecast calls for Wednesday to be nasty they generally
end up having to stay. It is unfortunate that they have
to do that, and there is no need for them to do it.
Dialysis could be placed
in the Charles LeGrow Centre. It involves an equipment
purchase and it involves trained personnel. The people
of that area have pledged to provide, at no cost to
government, the equipment. The hospital, the new doctor
who is there right now, I have a clipping that he has
already made a proposal to the Nephrologist at Corner
Brook. There is space available in the hospital there.
The people are prepared to raise the funds for the
equipment, and the nurses who are there are prepared to
undergo the training to administer the treatment. Now, I
don’t know what else government needs in order to
move.
There is a proposal
currently on route to the minister, as we speak, whereby
the Nephrologist at Corner Brook is saying, yes, this
can be done. Once you have those three components, you
have the equipment, you have the staff trained – it
takes about six weeks, by the way. The people out there
were a little bit perturbed when they found out. They
thought training to do this kind of thing was some kind
of university course that would have taken a couple to
three years. We find out that apparently this training
can be done in six weeks, so no big deal in terms of the
training. We have the long-term nurses there who intend
to stay in the community for years on end, finish their
careers out there actually. They are married and raising
their families there.
We have the staff
prepared to go through the training and we have the
pledge on the equipment. Nobody need question that,
because over the years, in the last ten, fifteen, twenty
years, that area has contributed thousands of dollars to
the Western Health Care foundation. The people out there
certainly do their part. That money doesn’t go into
just the Port aux Basques Facility. They money goes into
the Corner Brook Western Regional Hospital, if they have
a major initiative and drive on.
There is on question
around the money issue and there is no question on the
training issue. It just takes some good will and the
minister to become aware and get tuned into this.
Everybody else, even the crowd at Western Health, even
though there is a proposal as we speak being put
together by the Nephrologist and the Chief of Staff from
Port aux Basques hospital –
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
I remind the hon. member
that his time for speaking has expired.
MR. KELVIN PARSONS: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. |
