N.W.T. doctors and medical professionals are worried that the ER at Stanton Territorial Hospital may have to close if staffing shortages are not met by the summer.
ER doctor Courtney Howard spoke to Members of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly on Friday that the situation is at a “crisis point.”
“There’s real danger that we won’t be able to keep the emergency room open over the next few months if there’s not a change,” she told the assembly.
Howard called the Stanton Territorial Hospital the “beating heart” of the region’s healthcare system and warned of the devastating impacts that even a temporary, brief closure could have for communities of the North who rely on the hospital for care.
“We all share a desire to have good care in the territory, to be able to take good care of people. And to make sure that the systems that we’re working in are efficient running well, and our modern in a way that allows us to make the best use of everybody’s resources,” she said.
Howard was joined by other area doctors who presented concerns as outlined by the Northwest Territories Medical Association regarding major staffing shortages.
They said significant staffing shortages are present across the territories. Howard said that there is a “real danger” that the emergency department at Stanton hospital will have to close its doors within the next few months if the staffing shortages are not met.
Howard explained that doctors are flying in from far away to fill the shifts. The government is paying for their time and their travel.
“I’m handing over to a doctor who has just flown up from Saint John, Toronto or Vancouver. They spent an entire day on the plane that we’ve paid for not only the travel, but their time, they’re going to be working for one or two days. And so, when they’re working as a locum, we also provide them with housing and as well as often a car and then they fly all the way home again.”
“We’re very lucky that they’re coming to fill our gaps but at the same time it’s incredibly inefficient from a, from a healthcare expenditure standpoint, and that’s partly because we’re having trouble. Keeping our permanent staff up, and there’s various reasons for that,” added Howard.
Howard explained that about half of the ER shifts at the hospital are unfilled for the next five months.
One way to change that is by increasing pay for locum emergency doctors, said Howard.
Howard explained that offering competitive salaries and investing in more medical technologies to help support the work of doctors who come here, would also help to retain doctors in the region.
“Partly, there’s no longer really a premium in the contract to encourage people to, for the most part lead their families in the south come and signed on, as contract positions in the north,” she explained.
“When I signed on 15 years ago, we were going to make a little bit more in the N.W.T. and that was one way that we can sort of justify to ourselves coming up there with all the students that we had as a result of having finished medical training in Canada, that no longer really exists,” she added.
Howard explained that it’s the same situation for contract and for local positions.
“So we’re at really a crisis point where we’re having trouble, keeping Primary Care staff and we have almost half of the emergency room shifts.”
She said that doctors who come here to practice are earning less in comparison to other parts of the country.
Howard urged that it is a good time removed some of the bureaucratic barriers preventing doctors and other healthcare practitioners from practicing medicine in Canada. She also pointed out that there has been an influx of doctors coming from the U.S. who are looking to practice medicine here.
True North FM reached out to Stanton Territorial Hospital for more information about the doctor shortage and will share those details when they become available.
The discussion and presentation continued with a public briefing including Premier R.J. Simpson speaking to the issues.
The health-care system sustainability unit is working on reviewing government health programs and services.
“There are issues currently in the health-care system that need to be addressed,” admitted Simpson. “People are actively working to address that,” he said.
