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Oral
Questions
May 25, 2009
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| In the House | Question
Period
MS
JONES:
Mr. Speaker, Central
Newfoundland has been waiting for the services of an MRI
machine for the past couple of years. We know that
funding has been approved, but we are not sure why
government would be stalling on announcing whether that
equipment would be based out of Gander hospital or Grand
Falls hospital. We are aware that there has been an
internal study done to look at where the equipment
should actually be positioned.
I ask
the minister today if you can advise the people of
Central Newfoundland as to when an announcement will be
made, or where the MRI equipment will be located.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: The
member opposite was half right. There was a consultant
engaged; it was not an internal process. There was an
external group of people engaged to provide a
recommendation to government. They have done that.
I have had an opportunity
to review the report, and I will be bringing that
forward to my Cabinet colleagues in the very near
future. We would anticipate, right on the heels of that,
being able to make a public announcement.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
It was over three weeks
ago, actually, when the minister indicated to me that
the report was in his department and that they would
make a decision within a few days. While government has
been delaying this announcement for well over a year,
the people in Central Newfoundland have to drive to St.
John’s to access the service and be placed on a
wait-list.
I ask you today,
Minister: When can you make a
firm commitment as to when this equipment will be open
and operational and available to the people in Central
Newfoundland?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: As
I said a moment ago, the report, I acknowledged we have
had it in the department and I will be bringing it
forward in a matter - I would suspect that within a week
to ten days I will be able to bring that forward to my
Cabinet colleagues. I suspect that right on the heels of
that we will be making a public announcement. At that
time we will be able to talk a little bit about when we
might anticipate that becoming operational.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
When the House opened for
this session, one of the first issues we raised was
around the Cameron report and the minister committed to
provide information, including the action plan, for the
implementation of the report’s recommendations before
the final session of the House of Assembly.
I ask
the minister today if you can give us some indication as
to when that action plan and those timelines will be
tabled in the House and made available to the public.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, I suspect some time before the House closes in
the next couple of weeks. As I said, I had indicated
that I would have it tabled before the House closed. The
House is not yet closed, and I am not aware that we are
planning to close any time soon, so before the House
closes I will have that tabled.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
On March 23 when I
questioned the minister about the details of costs
associated with implementing the Cameron report he also
committed to finding those details and advising the
House of Assembly.
I ask the minister today:
Now that you have had two
months to get this information, could you please provide
the people of the Province with the details around the
cost of implementation?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, if the member opposite would recall, I had said
at that time as well that would be a part of the
implementation; as I tabled the implementation strategy
I would be able to firm up some of the costs associated
with that.
My answer to this one is
the same as the previous one. Before this session
adjourns, I will be tabling the action plan and I will
provide the House and the people of the Province an
update on what we anticipate to be the costs associated
with the implementation of those recommendations.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Also, Justice Cameron
identified the need for more staffing positions within
Eastern Health and within the four health authorities.
I ask the minister today
- because he did commit to bring forward a list of those
positions and a timeline as to when those positions
would be filled - I ask him today: What
action has been taken on that issue, and have any of
those positions now been recruited or filled with
Eastern Health or the other health authorities?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Members
of the House would recall, I think it was probably two
weeks ago the Budget finally passed in this House. In
that Budget submission there were a whole number of new
initiatives in health, and the member opposite might
recall in the Estimates we talked in some detail about
how that money might be spent.
Some of the money in this
year’s allocation responds to the recommendations in
the Cameron report as well as some of the
recommendations made by the Task Force on Adverse Health
Events. So, with the passing by this House of the most
recent Budget, Eastern Health now would be advised of
the new allocation they have for this year and the
recruitment process will be undertaken by that
organization.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
We also questioned
government on their commitment to compensate families
that have been affected by the faulty breast cancer
screening who may be excluded from any financial
settlement. The Premier did commit to help facilitate
this process.
I ask
today, if government can give us an update on what
actions have been taken in the last two months to help
ensure that these families do get the compensation they
deserve.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Deputy Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I apologize,
I didn’t catch the first part of the question. I
wonder if the Leader of the Opposition would pose the
question again, and I will do my best to answer.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Earlier in the House of
Assembly, when we first opened, we questioned the
government as to what action would be taken to ensure
compensation for patients who were affected by faulty
breast cancer screening that may not meet the other
financial compensation programs that are available. At
the time the Premier said that he would facilitate a
process and we are asking for an update on what has
happened and what action has been taken to ensure these
people do get compensated.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Deputy Premier.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MS DUNDERDALE: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier,
in all his remarks regarding this issue, has stated time
and time again that we will do everything we can, as a
government, to ensure that fair compensation is paid to
the people who have been most directly affected by the
whole breast cancer piece.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier
has also said there is a legal process that has to be
gone through. We are waiting until that process
completes itself, and then if there are other actions
that have to be taken we will take that under full
consideration.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Maybe
the minister could give us an update in the House of
Assembly how many of those families who were affected by
the faulty breast cancer screening will receive
financial settlements based on the assessments that have
already been done by Eastern Health, and how many will
be excluded that will have to be taken some interest in
by government.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. T. MARSHALL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Of course, in this
particular instance these are court cases against
Eastern Health, not against government. As the Deputy
Premier indicated, there is a process that has to be
engaged in and government will await the outcome of that
process before giving consideration to any request that
might be made to it.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Our
salaried medical specialists state that stress and
fatigue are compromising patient safety, and recruitment
has largely been unsuccessful, resulting in shortages of
doctors and gaps in the system. In fact, according to
Eastern Health, the net gain for new recruits since 1997
has been zero.
I ask the minister today:
Is there anything specifically
being done to address the recruitment and retention of
salaried medical specialists in the health care system?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I am very pleased to be
able to comment further as I have done in this House
many times on the success that we have had in physician
recruitment in this Province, Mr. Speaker. One of the
most successful tools that we have been able to use has
been our bursary program. You may recall, last year
around this time I was announcing with the Dean of the
Medical School the new graduates who had actually gone
through the program sponsored under the bursary program
who are now committing to practice in Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Some time in the very
near future we will have some thirty-one new graduates
coming out of this year’s program who are again
recipients of a bursary program, who have a return and
service commitment to practice in Newfoundland and
Labrador. I am looking forward to, in the very near
future, announcing the locations of where those
thirty-one physicians will be practicing throughout our
Province.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I guess the evidence here
is that there has not been a net gain. There have been
more people leaving the system than there has been going
into the system and that is why the net gain has been
zero. So, minister, it seems like there is quite a bit
of work that needs to be done.
We have the fastest pace
in population aging and the highest rate of chronic
disease. Yet, since 1994 only eleven residents have
completed the general internist training at MUN but only
four of them remain to work in the Province and right
now there are no new entrants in the program at the
university.
I ask the minister: What
is the plan by government to address this general
internist shortage and increased demand - with an
increased demand for their services today in the
Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, one of the interesting things that is happening
- and she was very selective of her words and I
appreciate and understand that. She talks about general
internists, and one of the things that we are noticing,
not only in Canada but throughout the world, there is a
real movement away from general practice, and in that
terms, Mr. Speaker, specialty as well. What we are
finding is a lot of internal medical specialists are
deciding to specialize in some sub-specialty areas.
Instead of being a general internist, now they want to
become a sub-specialist in some further area of training
that they require.
One of the things we are
experiencing as a country is a general shortage or a
shortage across the country of general internists. Mr.
Speaker, that is something that we are not only just
grappling with in this Province but we are as a country;
connecting that, though, to the aging population, Mr.
Speaker, there is not necessarily a correlation. We have
been saying for many, many years that as a Province we
are aging more rapidly than many other parts of the
country and chronic illness is one of the biggest
challenges facing all of us.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister knows we
have the highest rate of chronic disease in this
Province, of any Province in Canada, including high
blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Minister,
there are currently thirty-four general internists that
are working in our Province; almost 30 per cent of them
are over the age of sixty-five. These general internists
provide about 50 per cent of the internal medicine,
in-patient services and emergency services at our main
hospital, the Health Sciences Centre.
I ask the minister: What
is being done to secure the proper complement of
internal doctors that we require to be able to continue
to run these emergency rooms and our hospitals in the
Province?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: If
the member opposite were the Minister of Health we would
perpetuate a circumstance we have in this Province, and
we need to fix it, Mr. Speaker.
We have said many times
before that we have, as she has indicated, one of the
highest rates of chronic illness in the entire country.
The real way we are going to deal with that is the kind
of investment we are making in our wellness piece. The
way to manage chronic illness is not to provide cures
for it, Mr. Speaker. We need to have a system. We need
to have Province. We need to have a society to take in
responsibility for our own health, looking at the
investments we are making in wellness, look at what we
are doing – and this generations to change, Mr.
Speaker. Some of the work we are doing today in our
schools, looking at our new school guidelines, healthy
eating, exercise, physical activity. I join with my
colleague responsible for recreation, looking at a new
recreation strategy.
If we are going to come
to grips with chronic illness in this Province we need
to start building a foundation today so future
generations, as they age, do not age with the same
degree (inaudible).
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Great
speech, Mr. Speaker, but the reality is that we do need
general internists in this Province. They are declining
at a fast ratio and the positions are not being filled.
In fact, they do a lot of the community promotion and
healthy promotion work.
Mr. Speaker,
rheumatologists treat complex diseases such as lupus,
rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis. In fact, the
recommended specialist-to-patient ratio is one for every
50,000 people. In Newfoundland and Labrador we have one
for every 120,000 people. Our wait times for this
service are twelve times the national standard and this
is having a major impact on patients with inflammatory
arthritis.
I ask the minister: Does
he feel that these wait times are acceptable to the
people in the Province who require this service?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, as a health system we are constantly trying to
improve our wait times, trying to shorten them. One of
the things we found – and let’s connect the two
questions, Mr. Speaker.
The member opposite talks
about the incidence of chronic illness in this Province,
and she is absolutely right. The incidence of chronic
illnesses in this Province is driven to increase
utilization. So if we are going to truly come to grips
with some of the issues we are dealing with, whether it
is wait times or chronic disease management, it goes
back to the original point I made a moment ago. We need
to change our approach to how we provide services to the
people of Newfoundland and Labrador. As a society, we
need to change the approach to our thinking about health
care. It is not all about cure, Mr. Speaker, it is about
prevention. The emphasis we are placing on our
strategies for prevention, a healthier society, whether
it is health aging, our recreation piece, our chronic
disease strategies, Mr. Speaker, are all things to
ensure we are better as a society and we will age much
healthier than the generation we currently have.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker, but the minister did not answer my
question.
Right now, today, the
wait time for inflammatory arthritis, patients who
suffer from that, is twelve times the Canadian standard.
I ask you, minister: Is
that an acceptable wait time for these patients in our
Province, and what is the plan by your government to
deal with this?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, I acknowledged in my last answer, the wait
times are something that as a government, through our
four health authorities, are continuously working on,
trying to improve, trying to shorten, and there is no
one magic solution, Mr. Speaker, to trying to deal with
some of the issues we are facing in our health system.
I was trying to map out
for the members opposite some of the things we are doing
through a wellness piece, so that we are not always
focusing on cure, cure, cure, Mr. Speaker. We need to be
investing more in prevention. Investing more money in
prevention, Mr. Speaker, and that is why we have made
unprecedented investments in our wellness strategy, so
that we do not have the increased incidence of chronic
illnesses that we are now experiencing, and we do not
have the increased pressures on many of our health
providers because of the wait list they have because of
the increased number of visits people need because they
need support in managing their chronic illness, Mr.
Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Leader of the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
The Province’s
physicians are the next group hoping to negotiate a
contract with government.
I ask the minister: If
you can update the people of the Province today as to
what the status of those negotiations are?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: Mr.
Speaker, members of the House might be fully aware, we
have announced it much earlier, that the physicians’
contract does not expire until September.
Wanting to be very
proactive, Mr. Speaker, wanting to make sure that we
were working with physicians to ensure that we had a
successful conclusion to negotiations, we started
negotiations some time ago, Mr. Speaker, so we will be
ready well in advance of the expiry of that contract in
September. Because we want to make sure that, as she
just pointed out, that the physicians will be the final
group of individuals that we will have a very successful
conclusion to collective bargaining with, and those
discussions are moving very well. In fact, if I am not
mistaken, there was a meeting again this morning; it was
the most recent one.
So I say, Mr. Speaker,
progress is being made. The parties are at the table
talking, and there have been some really good
initiatives coming forward by both the Medical
Association and our negotiating team and we are very
optimistic that we will have a successful conclusion to
those (inaudible).
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
On or about March 24,
near the community of Burnside, the ferry Sound of
Islay collided with a privately-owned wharf and did
enough damage to lift the foundation with regard to the
major structure.
I ask the minister: What
are the procedures, the processes and reporting
mechanism that his government have when a
government-owned-and-operated ferry causes damage to
private property, and if he can confirm that these
processes were followed in this particular case.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. TAYLOR: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, whenever
there is an event with any vessel on the water, likewise
in the air with aircraft, Transport Canada becomes
engaged. In the case of the incident at Burnside, it was
brought to my attention some time shortly after it
happened. I believe that most, if not all, of the
official processes were followed, with the exception of
whether or not the individual who owned the wharf was
contacted in as timely a fashion as should have
happened.
Mr. Speaker, that
incident is under investigation. If we are liable for
it, we will do the right thing and compensate the person
for the wharf. I believe those discussions have, to some
extent, taken place.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, I guess my next question is really a follow-up
to what the minister had said, and one of the most
important parts.
According to the
individual, he advised us that he had not received any
confirmation from the department and, even worse, when
the accident was brought to the attention of the
authorities, officials within the department preferred
to deny or otherwise minimize the incident.
I ask the minister: Can
he advise the House - and I know he said he was going to
look into this, or what have you, but I am wondering
what action he has taken to address the reluctance of
officials in his department to properly address this
issue before it was reported in the media and became a
subject of a potential hit-and-run incident.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. TAYLOR: Mr.
Speaker, all I can say to the member opposite on that
is, whenever there is an incident with any of our
vessels, or any of our equipment for that matter, as
soon as I become aware of it, I direct officials to take
as expeditious and firm an action as can be taken.
I cannot vouch for
whether or not our ferry damaged that wharf or not. I
was not there that day. I understand that we have had
some incidents with our vessels this spring. I know that
one of our captains has been off on paid leave as a
result of an investigation on whether or not
disciplinary action should or should not take place. I
cannot quite remember if this is the same incident or
not. In any event, when we have an incident where our
vessel touches a rock or a wharf that we should not be
touching, it is being investigated as soon as I find out
about it, if not before, Mr. Speaker.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, as of this morning this gentleman who had the
damage done to his wharf at Burnside advised our office
that nobody from government has contacted him to even
apologize or give an explanation or an indication of
what repairs would be made by the department. What he
stated to us: all he has seen is an e-mail statement
from the minister to The Telegram which was
reprinted in the paper this past weekend.
All I ask the minister,
Mr. Speaker: Can he advise this
House, will he provide a proper apology to this
individual and make sure that compensation will be
offered to address this problem?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. TAYLOR: Mr.
Speaker, I have asked our officials, if appropriate,
that we compensate the individual for damage that our
vessel – if our vessel damaged the wharf, then we
provide the appropriate compensation.
Mr. Speaker, wharves in
bays in Newfoundland and Labrador, especially on the
Northeast Coast where there is ice, may or may not be
damaged by ferries. Once we establish whether or not we
damaged that wharf, if we damaged it, we will
compensate. If we did not damage it, then the owner of
the wharf will have to look after it himself.
No, we are not going to
issue an apology yet. I do not know the details of
whether or not we did it. I was informed that there may
have been an incident there. I asked that it be
investigated and that the appropriate action be taken
once we find out what the answers in the investigation
are.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Mr.
Speaker, we were also advised this morning that the
individual has stated that someone from the department
has looked at the damage that was done and said yes,
they did do it.
My
question to the minister now, since he mentioned with
regard to the captain, whether he was on or off duty,
is: Will he check this out and confirm to this House
what did happen, and if the captain was involved in this
particular incident or was he off at that particular
time?
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The hon. the Minister of
Transportation and Works.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. TAYLOR: Mr.
Speaker, either the owner of the wharf or the hon.
Opposition Transportation critic needs to get their
story straight. He is suggesting that nobody has
contacted him, in one sentence, in one set of questions,
and then he turns around, in the last question, and said
that somebody from the department had been in contact
with him. So, what was it? You cannot stand up here in
the House in the course of three minutes and accuse
officials in my department of not contacting the owner
of the wharf, and then turn around and say that we were
in contact with him.
Mr. Speaker, all I can
say is that I am aware of the incident. I asked the
people involved, the officials involved, to ensure that
appropriate action was taken.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
MR. TAYLOR: Once
we find out if we were liable, what the cost is, the
person will be dealt with appropriately.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Just
as a follow-up, Mr. Speaker, I say to the minister:
neither the minister nor any official in his department
actually spoke to the individual who owns the property.
AN HON. MEMBER: Then
how do you know (inaudible)?
MR. BUTLER: He
has other relatives that were spoken to.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Oh,
oh!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.
MR. BUTLER: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
In the Town of Grand
Falls-Windsor, the former Grand Falls Academy high
school has now been listed as a potentially harmful
structure. The building is full of asbestos. According
to Occupational Health and Safety it is safely contained
at the present time; however, if this building is
disturbed in some way such as by fire, which has already
occurred and damaged the building, and if this further
continues, asbestos could become potentially hazardous
to the exposure and to those individuals who are nearby.
The Town of Grand Falls-Windsor is extremely concerned
about the safety implications and should this old
building remain in place, and they feel that government
should be helping them to deal with this situation.
I ask the minister:
What is government doing in order to solve this problem
in an efficient manner and ensure that the surrounding
residents will not be exposed to the asbestos?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Education.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. KING: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
For the information of
the member opposite, the building is not the property of
the provincial government or the school board; it was
disposed of. The expectation from me would be that the
current owner of the building would dispose of it in a
manner that falls within the legislation of government
with respect to the handling of dangerous materials such
as asbestos.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, another
week, another tragedy. It appears a possible adverse
event happened last week in the Clarenville Hospital,
though there is still no official word from Eastern
Health one way or the other. This information has been
on a radio station Province-wide and could create a
panic.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the
Minister of Health and Community Services: Why isn’t
Eastern Health saying anything publicly at this point
about the death of the child who was seen by personnel
at the Clarenville Hospital emergency room on Thursday
past?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: There
was a real tragedy in Clarenville on Friday and our
thoughts and prayers are with the families who have been
affected by that.
To the member’s
question: I understand that the Medical Officer of
Health with Eastern Health has been speaking publicly
this morning. At least on two media outlets I understand
he has made comment. I would be only too glad to supply
the member opposite with a copy of those transcripts so
that she may have the same information that the public
does.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I am aware of what the
Chief Medical Officer from Eastern Health has said, and
he has confirmed that the child died of meningitis, but
the information that is on the Province-wide radio
station is giving much more information than that with
regard to the child’s being sent home from the
emergency room and all those details. I am sure if the
minister knows what the Chief Medical Officer said, he
knows that information as well.
Because of the public
nature of the information out there, why has Eastern
Health not yet made a public statement addressing those
issues?
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: It
is a delicate topic that she is raising here, and I want
to separate two issues.
One is Dr. Allison has
been out talking about the public health issue, making
sure that the information is in the public domain with
respect to meningitis.
The other issue at hand,
Mr. Speaker, is the tragedy itself, and it would be very
inappropriate for Eastern Health to be, in a public way,
responding to comments that may have been made in the
public domain by other people, or responding to
questions that may be being asked by family members.
Those sorts of things will be dealt with in a very
private fashion.
It is not a practice of
Eastern Health or any other health authority to get into
a discussion in the public domain with respect to issues
around patients or their families, this confidential
information. Sometimes family members may choose to
raise questions in the public domain, but unfortunately
the health authority does not have the ability to be
able to respond publicly because of confidentially, Mr.
Speaker.
During this very
sensitive time, I appreciate why Eastern Health would
not want to engage in a public discussion around what
may or may not have taken place, until an investigation
is finally concluded.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Member for the District of Signal Hill-Quidi
Vidi.
MS MICHAEL: Thank
you very much, Mr. Speaker.
The minister and I both
know that if there has been an adverse event, that there
are two dimensions to the reporting by Eastern Health.
One, is admitting the adverse event to the family or
those involved, or to the individual, if the individual
has not died. The other is making public statements with
regard to it.
So, I am not asking for
confidential information to be made public, but I think
the public needs to know from Eastern Health if there
was an adverse event that took place. If they do not
know it as yet, when are they going to know it?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I ask that question of
the minister.
MR. SPEAKER: The
hon. the Minister of Health and Community Services.
SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear,
hear!
MR. WISEMAN: I
fail to understand why the member opposite would want to
start prying into something so private in such a very
public way.
Eastern Health has
indicated that there has been – I think Dr. Elliston
commented this morning that there was an event that
happened on Friday. The event is under investigation,
and until that investigation is over, Mr. Speaker,
Eastern Health themselves are still trying to determine
exactly what went wrong and what happened, and until
that is done, no one is in a position to make a comment.
So thank you very much,
Mr. Speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: Order,
please!
The time allotted for
questions and answers have expired. |
