Six months of 'unprecedented' staff shortages ahead, says Hay River health authority

Health services in Hay River are facing an "unprecedented" staffing shortage, says the local health authority.

Erin Griffiths, chief executive officer of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, posted a statement online Thursday.

Griffiths wrote that the health authority "is preparing for a significant impact to their workforce of 250 employees and possibly a temporary reduction of services to the communities we serve."

The N.W.T. has been grappling with a shortage of health care workers in recent years, as has much of the country. Last summer a shortage of nurses forced Yellowknife's Stanton Territorial Hospital cut its intensive care capacity, and in December, the government closed the hospital's birthing unit for more than two months for similar reasons.

In mid-2021, the Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut warned the pandemic was creating a worldwide nursing shortage.

Griffiths wrote that the Hay River health authority is seeing shortages across a wide swath of positions, including occupational therapists, physiotherapists, registered nurses, family physicians, diagnostic services and social services.

"These positions are in very high demand, and [the authority] is not exempt from the nationwide shortages of staff," Griffiths stated.

She said the shortages in Hay River are expected to last for the next six months.