Yellowknife long-term care home seeking gov't reimbursement for 2023 evacuation costs

A Yellowknife seniors' care home is still in debt from the 2023 wildfire evacuation and says the N.W.T. government should help pay it off. 

AVENS, a not-for-profit organization that provides independent living and long-term care for seniors, moved 57 residents from its facility during the evacuation, racking up a bill of more than $1.3 million. Around $900,000 of those costs have been reimbursed by the federal government, and in a news release last week AVENS said it wants the territory to pay the rest.

AVENS CEO Daryl Dolynny says the debt has forced the organization to take out a second mortgage on one of its properties in order to keep some cashflow.

"This has been gravely overlooked for far too long," said Dolynny.

Dolynny said that the organization was severely short-staffed during the evacuation. About a quarter of the staff was on hand to find space for its clients — plus the extra clients the territory put in its care — in Edmonton, without guidance from the territory.

He said the territory placed evacuees from Hay River and Fort Smith in AVENS' care days before Yellowknife's evacuation, and up until the day of.

"To be in a position where we actually acquired other seniors and elders with severe cases of dementia… We did the right thing and we would do it again. All we're asking is, pay for the fair and reasonable cost that it took us to manage this," Dolynny said.

Being short-staffed meant the organization developed an incentive program to pay staff members extra during the evacuation, according to Dolynny. 

AVENS's news release also notes that it provides care under contracts with Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA), and that those contracts are only for providing services at the AVENS facility in Yellowknife. It says the lack of guidance during the evacuation made an already complicated situation even more so.

NTHSSA says costs can't be covered

In an email, NTHSSA spokesperson Krystal Pidborochynski said the costs AVENS is trying to claim doesn't meet the standard for reimbursement under the territorial disaster assistance policy. 

"While incremental staffing costs such as overtime or hiring additional staff may qualify as disaster-related expenses, incentive payments are ineligible as a disaster-related expense," Pidborochynski said.

Dolynny said his organization has had the debt validated and audited "more times than he can count." He also said that not seeing these issues addressed in the territory's latest after-action review of the 2023 wildfire emergency is disappointing.

NTHSSA said that ensuring claims align with territorial disaster assistance policy is "essential for maximizing federal cost-sharing and ensuring compliance with eligibility requirements."

Robert Hawkins, MLA for Yellowknife Centre, gave notice on Friday that he would bring forward a motion related to AVENS's costs in October, during the next sitting of the Legislative Assembly.