The NWT Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) is telling residents they can rest assured Stanton Territorial Hospital's emergency department will not close, even with an expected reduction of services for the month of May.
A statement from the authority was sent to SA国际影视传媒 on Wednesday morning saying that it will remain open.
"The NTHSSA will use every available avenue to ensure operations continue at full capacity," read the statement. "If a reduction of services is required, details on what that looks like will be shared through NTHSSA communication channels at the earliest available opportunity."
However, the president of the NWT Medical Association isn't convinced.
"There are so many gaps in the schedule just this month that we don't see how, in the absence of other measures, we will be able to keep it open," Dr. Courtney Howard told SA国际影视传媒 on Wednesday.
She's also an emergency physician and predicted May will be a "shaky month" for the emergency department at Stanton.
Like the rest of Canada, the hospital in Yellowknife faces a serious staffing crisis when it comes to healthcare workers, Howard explained. Whether it's physicians, nurses, or primary care doctors, the NWT needs more of them as soon as possible.
SA国际影视传媒淭he major acute shortage right now is that we currently do not know who is going to keep the emergency room open," Howard said.
Howard listed a few immediate steps needed to help reverse course, one of which includes maintaining competitive pay for locums compared to other provinces.
She noted medical graduates tend to have large amounts of debt.
"They're not really in a position to make less money than they could," she said.
Normally, that would mean they would come up North to work, which historically has offered higher pay. Now, however, Howard said other jurisdictions are offering more competitive compensation SA国际影视传媒� particularly for emergency doctors SA国际影视传媒� though she added the NWT faces similar challenges in attracting primary care physicians.
An overwhelming number of physicians in the NWT were locums last year. The GNWT spent nearly $41 million on those locums in 2024, according to documents obtained via an access-to-information request.
There is a new locum contract coming, though Howard said it's been delayed and that she doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 know why.
She added that it's inefficient from a healthcare expenditure standpoint to rely so heavily on locum physicians, even if the ones coming are excellent at what they do.
Howard said the territorial government needs to negotiate physician contracts that are competitive enough to attract new doctors to the North in sufficient numbers to ease the pressure on the existing permanent medical staff.
With these obstacles in mind, how StantonSA国际影视传媒檚 emergency department will stay open is unclear.
The Hay River Regional Health Centre is facing the same problem that Stanton is soon to experience. According to the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, there is no on-site physician coverage in either the emergency room or out-patient department this week. The authority stated that two nurse practitioners are on-site and that operations are continuing as normal.
The statement from the Hay River authority noted that anyone who comes into the emergency department would be triaged and assessed by nursing staff with a remote physician providing consultation over the phone.
The authority is also asking residents to call the 811 telehealth service if they have non-emergency health concerns.
SA国际影视传媒 has asked the NTHSSA several questions in regards to what kinds of emergencies or procedures, if any, can be handled under the virtual care model, and whether virtual physicians will be familiar with patientsSA国际影视传媒� medical histories. We will update this story once we receive any response.
