Yellowknife, N.W.T. - There seems to be a problem with the H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital and Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen said it's one which shouldn't be there.

Groenewegen talked about a patient with multiple sclerosis who visits the hospital for treatment, but the issue is the patient isn't able to use the washroom in the common area of the hospital because it's not set up for someone in a wheelchair.

Groenewegen said the patient had a meeting with the hospital's administration staff a few months ago and thought the problem would be solved.

"We were quite excited to think we were going to get a toilet facility, with gripper handles that go horizontal as opposed to on an angle,” she said. “So that when someone in a wheelchair needs to use a washroom, at a hospital, that they would have a facility that they could use."

But the renovations would cost around $55,000 because of a regulation under the Canadian Standards Association that deals with infection control.

Groenewegen said that is an embarrassment and was ashamed to tell her constituent it wouldn't be fixed because the money wasn't there.

Public works minister Glen Abernethy said he will work with Health and Social Services to fix the problem, but adds there is access to a barrier-free washroom in the building by elevator.

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