N.W.T. doctors say severe staff shortages could force Yellowknife ER closures this summer

N.W.T. doctors say that if the territorial government doesn't take action, there will be closures at the emergency room at Stanton Territorial Hospital this summer.

"We're at, really, a crisis point," said Yellowknife ER doctor Courtney Howard.

Howard and other N.W.T. doctors spoke to MLAs on the standing committee on social development Friday on behalf of the Northwest Territories Medical Association. 

They told committee members there is a desperate need for the territory to increase pay for locum emergency room doctors this summer to keep the emergency room staffed.

"There is 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," Howard said.

Howard told MLAs almost half of all ER shifts at the hospital are unfilled over the next five months, because staff shortages at the hospital are so severe.

Howard said the territorial government needs to bring in more locum doctors to fill the gaps, but with rates increasing Canada-wide in response to shortages, the N.W.T. is no longer offering competitive pay.

"I've been asking locums who have been coming recently if they are taking a pay cut," she said. "I still haven't found one from any part of Canada who doesn't say they are actually making less in the N.W.T. then they are making at home." 

Dr. Danielle Stachiw, who also presented to the committee, confirmed there are "critical shortages" in ER coverage at Stanton, similar to those in the hospital's obstetrics unit that led to the unit closing for over two months in 2021.

"We don't have another emergency a couple hours away. This ER can't close," she said.

Howard also emphasized how important the Yellowknife emergency room is for the N.W.T.'s health system, calling it the "beating heart of the whole Northern system."

She said even a short closure of the Stanton ER would be a "disaster" for the territory and said changes to locum contracts need to happen "yesterday".

The doctors' presentation was followed by a public briefing with Premier R.J. Simpson on the health-care system sustainability unit, which is working to broadly review government health programs and services.

In response to a question about how this unit's work can respond to the current challenges in the system, Simpson said his team is "well aware there are near-term issues and immediate issues."

"There are issues currently in the health-care system that need to be addressed, and people are actively working to address that," he said.

Terence Courtoreille, the associate deputy minister of the unit, said its work is more focused on the long term.