Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

HAY RIVER - A new funding arrangement has been reached between the GNWT and Ottawa that will see children's dental surgery resume in Hay River.

The surgeries were halted in January because of funding concerns by the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority and a backlog of over 135 children developed.

Greg Cummings, the deputy minister of Health and Social Services, said the permanent funding arrangement was reached last week.

The GNWT and Health Canada have agreed the facility fees for surgeries at the Hay River hospital will be covered by the Supplementary Health Benefits Program.

The funding will provide $900 per session.

The Hay River health authority had been absorbing the facility fees, which include providing nurses and such things as cleaning the operating room.

Cummings said there will be a concentrated effort to bring the waiting list down.

"I'm thrilled there's an arrangement," said Lesli Ward, office manager at the Hay River Dental Clinic, which arranges the surgeries.

"The services we're offering here are not something to be taken lightly," she said. "These children are sick."

Paul Rosebush, the chief executive officer of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, is also pleased with the agreement.

"Our authority is absolutely delighted with this news because it means we can provide a vital service to the children of our area," he said.

Rosebush noted the authority had been providing facilities for the surgeries with the assurance it would be compensated by the federal government, but that compensation never came.

In all, 31 children are scheduled for surgeries from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3.

Along with Hay River, they are coming from Yellowknife, Behchoko, Fort Smith, Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte, Fort Providence, Trout Lake and Fort Simpson. Each year, 10 weeks of surgeries, involving about 300 children, are scheduled from September to June. The children range in age from three to 12 and come from all over the NWT, except the Inuvik area.