Latest news with #Cathers
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Yukon gov't completed a third of health recommendations; critics say they should focus elsewhere
The Yukon government has completed 25 of 76 health-related recommendations from a 2020 report on improving the territory's health care, but critics say the government is failing to address the major issues. The Putting People First report, published in 2020, was the result of a territorial health care review conducted by an independent panel. That panel made recommendations to improve Yukon health care, including creating a distinct health authority, a Whitehorse walk-in clinic and land-based healing programming. On May 22, the territory said it had completed 25 with another 40 in progress. But Yukon Party health critic Brad Cathers says the territory should focus on items mostly excluded from the report like surgical infrastructure, the doctor shortage and continuing care. "We're seeing a lack of urgency on everything," Cathers said. Cathers said he wants to see more aggressive recruitment of physicians from outside the territory. He pointed to a waitlist for the long-term care facility in Whistle Bend with "no plan to address it." Yukon NDP Leader Kate White said she's also concerned about senior care and the lack of physicians specifically trained in geriatric care. She also pointed to the report's recommendation to reform social assistance. She said a review has happened, but there's no available information about next steps. Dr. Derek Bryant, president of the Yukon Medical Association, says the Yukon has made good progress but acknowledged there's still a lot of work ahead. "This was a really ambitious set of recommendations," he said. "We have to keep that in mind when we're looking at the progress." Opening the Whitehorse walk-in clinic, increasing the medical travel subsidy and launching a land-based healing program are among the recommendations already actioned. For Bryant, the number one outstanding recommendation is connecting every Yukoner with a primary care provider. "We can't think of a single more important priority," Bryant said. He said having proper access to care ultimately saves money and saves lives. He agrees there should be more progress on items not in the report, like surgical infrastructure needed to sterilize equipment and an electronic medical record system, so people can have continuity of care between physicians. Health authority in progress The territorial government is also in the process of creating a distinct health authority. Yukon is currently one of two jurisdictions in Canada without the authority, along with Nunavut. The territory passed the Health Authority Act, legislation that sets the framework for the new health authority, in 2024 and opened applications for the first board of directors May 20. The new organization will be called Shäw Kwä'ą and will replace the Yukon Hospital Corporation. Bryant said passing the legislation is a big step and said it's positive that it requires consultation with First Nations. White thinks the Shäw Kwä'ą board of directors is being appointed too soon, before there's an established timeline for creating the authority. She said hospital and government employees still have questions about how the chang will impact them. "We absolutely have to make sure that the people who are going to do the work are along for the ride, and that's not the case right now," White said.
CBC
18-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Yukon Party says gov't should capitalize on 'chaos' to recruit U.S. health-care workers
The Yukon Party says the territorial government needs to move fast to poach health-care workers who might be thinking about leaving the United States. It believes many doctors and nurses are ripe for the picking due to the volatility of the Trump administration. After raising the issue last Thursday, the Yukon Party once again pressed the government during Monday's question period to commit to headhunting American physicians. The party says there are steps the government can take to seize the moment. The first would include launching a marketing campaign aimed at getting American workers to relocate to the Yukon. Yukon Party health critic Brad Cathers said the government should also allow board-certified doctors, surgeons and specialists to practise in the Yukon and speed up licensing of American-trained nurses. "We do think there's a specific opportunity to target a marketing campaign to U.S.-trained doctors and other health professionals to reach them where they're living — in the United States — to paint the picture for them of what life could be like in the Yukon," Cathers said. "And frankly, to take advantage of the chaos south of the border." Cathers called the shortage of family doctors in the Yukon a "crisis," made worse by four physicians closing their practices and the departure of one surgeon within the last 18 months. He also said there were 153 locums who worked in the Yukon last year, but none decided to stay. On that last point, those doctors already had jobs elsewhere, said Tracy-Anne McPhee, the territory's health minister. She said locums do not relocate to the Yukon after a single stint. While the government is not specifically targeting American health-care workers, McPhee said it is working to recruit them from all over the world. She pointed to the money the government has spent on recruitment and retention as a sign of how seriously the government takes the challenge of filling the shortage of these workers. McPhee said in each of the last three years, an additional $2 million was allocated to "enhance" recruitment and retention. That would be in addition to other measures such as funding a recruiter position for the Yukon Medical Association. "Recruiting physicians is one of our top priorities. Health care for Yukoners is absolutely a top priority. You can see that from the budget allocations of this year," she said. However, Cathers said the Yukon's health-care system remains "not very welcoming," and called on the government to work with the Yukon Medical Association to reduce the administrative burden doctors have to deal with. "I think it's fair to say that virtually every single Yukoner would say the government needs to be doing more to recruit and retain doctors," Cathers said. The government released its Health Human Resources Strategy in 2023, a plan for tackling the shortage of health-care workers. Some of its initiatives aim to improve workplace culture, streamline the integration of new workers and to create more training opportunities in the Yukon. McPhee said it came after consulting more than 600 frontline workers. "We brought every decision-maker in health care we could find in the territory to the table ... to make sure that we could challenge ourselves to determine what the issues are and what are the solutions that we're going to bring forward," she said. The government announced on Monday that it will soon begin negotiations with the Yukon Medical Association for a new memorandum of understanding. Key issues are expected to include improving access to services, any legislative changes that are needed as well as compensation.
