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HAY RIVER
A GNWT employee is concerned downgrading Hay River's hospital to a health centre will have detrimental effects on the quality of care in the community.

The Department of Health and Social Services confirmed on May 8 that the new $49.5 million facility will be a "modern health centre, which will continue to provide the existing primary and secondary care that is currently provided to Hay River residents."

Damien Healy, the department's manager of planning and communications, said there are only two hospitals in the NWT - Stanton Territorial in Yellowknife and Inuvik Regional.

The concerned government employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, although there has been no indication that services will be reduced, Hay River residents already have to travel enough for health care, and should the community receive a smaller facility she said she is concerned there will be more travelling involved.

"I have concerns about access to health care options," she said. "We have to travel enough as is for health care. Are all these people going to have to be shipped out for everything? Or, will (the hospital) still be offering the same services and same number of beds?"

She used Fort Smith as an example, a health centre where many patients must be sent out for services that are currently provided in Hay River - dialysis for example.

"What will happen to our dialysis unit," she asked.

In addition to health care, she expressed concerns over jobs, as many in town are employed by the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority.

"Are there going to be changes at the clinic," she said. "How is it going to affect jobs? The nursing staff, administrative staff, kitchen staff, cleaning staff. It's going to affect everyone in this community."

The closing date for the design-build contract for the new Hay River facility was May 10, and Healy said there was plenty of interest in the project.

"Based upon the number of inquiries on the project, (the Department of Public Works and Services) can confirm there has been a great deal of interest in the project from local and Northern consulting and construction industries," he stated in an e-mail.

The closing date for the request for proposals (RFP) was originally set for March 29, but Healy stated it was extended to allow the interested parties to seek further information for their proposals.

"The RFP was extended to allow time to respond to a number of technical inquiries raised by the proponents which needed clarification in order for them to complete their proposals," he said.

Representatives from the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority were unwilling to comment on the new facility until a formal news release is made public.

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