Latest news with #LesaSemmler
CBC
21-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Health care, wildfire report in spotlight as N.W.T. MLAs begin 7-day spring sitting
Health care is expected to be a focal point of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly's short seven-day spring sitting which begins Wednesday. Doctors have been raising concerns about staffing shortages so severe that they're not sure how some units in Yellowknife's Stanton Hospital will continue to function. Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart said he's getting calls daily from patients and health-care workers about failures in the health-care system. "We've got to have real answers to this," he said. "We need to have a real plan, and we just haven't seen that yet." On May 8, Testart, along with MLAs Robert Hawkins and Richard Edjericon, issued a news release outlining 13 calls to action to address the health-care crisis. That includes phasing out agency nurses by 2026, implementing minimum staff-to-patient ratios in N.W.T. hospitals, and fast-tracking policies on technology like artificial intelligence and virtual care. Testart said they intend to introduce a motion calling on the minister and health department to implement those actions. "Even if they can't be implemented immediately, we need to have a commitment that those are going to be worked on," Testart said. Health Minister Lesa Semmler has pushed back on characterizations that the Stanton emergency room is on the verge of closure, and Premier R.J. Simpson has spoken out in support of Semmler. Julian Morse, MLA for Frame Lake, agrees health care will be a major focus of the spring sitting. He also expects MLAs to discuss the latest report into the government's emergency response to the 2023 wildfires. Morse says he's hoping to hear that the government is responding to the report authors' recommendations, including the recommendation to create a separate emergency management agency. Education could also be a significant focus during this sitting. In March, Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek said the government would have a strategy related to continued education in smaller communities after Aurora College announced in January it would close its community leaning centres. Wawzonek also committed to coming up with a strategy around Arctic defence and sovereignty in the upcoming sitting. She said at the time that the community learning centres and Arctic defence strategies were significant issues brought up in budget discussions. The spring sitting of the Legislative Assembly concludes on May 29.
CBC
09-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
N.W.T. premier supports minister amid criticisms of territory's health care
The premier of the Northwest Territories is re-affirming support for his health minister after a group of three MLAs accused Minister Lesa Semmler of not taking her role seriously and threatened to oust her from the job. In a news release Thursday, MLAs Kieron Testart, Robert Hawkins and Richard Edjericon shared a list of actions they want to see taken to improve health care, including negotiating licence-sharing with Nunavut and Alberta to speed physicians' ability to enter the N.W.T.'s system, releasing details of new locum contracts for emergency departments and implementing minimum staff-to-patient ratios at N.W.T. hospitals. "If the Minister of Health and Social Services is unwilling to make these changes, then we are willing to change the Minister," Testart is quoted as saying in the release. In response, Premier R.J. Simpson sent out his own news release Thursday saying Semmler has his full confidence to address the challenges in the territory's health-care system. "As an Indigenous Northerner, a former health-care provider, and someone with years of experience in health system management, she brings a deep, personal understanding of the issues facing both our dedicated staff and the system as a whole," Simpson writes. Northwest Territories doctors have been vocal in recent weeks about staffing challenges so severe they're not sure how Stanton Territorial Hospital's emergency room will stay staffed. Health-care officials, including Semmler and the health authority's public administrator Dan Florizone, have said closing the ER is not an option and that they are working to recruit more physicians and employing "different strategies" to fill empty shifts. One of those strategies includes asking doctors to work 12-hour shifts, Florizone said. "We would call upon people to do what they need to do," he said. The Northwest Territories Medical Association (NWTMA) said that its members are glad to see progress in recruitment, but there remains a staffing crisis at Stanton's emergency room. In a third health-care related news release on Thursday, the association said that announcing plans on how to staff remaining shifts is particularly important given the current measles exposures in Yellowknife. "There are still multiple days in May where levels are inadequate to run the ER safely. Time is getting short, and contingency plans have not been announced," the association wrote. The association also said that attributing staffing gaps to vacation and parental leave is inappropriate. "Staffing levels should take anticipated leave needs into account. This is a planning issue." For longer term solutions, the association said it welcomes the recently announced raise to locum rates, but couldn't comment on whether it's adequate since the specifics haven't been made public. The medical association also stressed the importance of extending similar compensation to contract physicians in the territory. "They are the ones around whom the present and future of our health system depends," the association said. Simpson said the shortages facing the N.W.T.'s health-care system are shared across the country but that his government is focused on supporting health-care workers and quality care for residents. "Through unity, co-operation, and a shared commitment to serving the public, we will continue delivering meaningful progress for the people and communities of the Northwest Territories," Simpson said.
CBC
08-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Increase in dental travel to Yellowknife unlikely to slow down anytime soon, says N.W.T. health minister
N.W.T.'s minister of health says there's no end in sight to the challenges facing the dental care system in the territory. Over the last couple years, the volume of dental travel to Yellowknife has increased substantially, leading to shortages of accommodations for medical travel in the capital. Last month, the N.W.T. government urged people to cancel all non-urgent dental travel to Yellowknife until the end of the tourism season altogether because of a lack of beds. Lesa Semmler said there's a reason for the increase in people travelling to Yellowknife for dental. The health minister said the territory's contracts with dental providers to visit N.W.T.'s small communities expired at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic — and no dentists in the territory have been willing to sign new contracts. While there have been a few dental visits since the pandemic from older providers, no one is now providing that service consistently. Adding to the problem is the closure of Western Arctic Dental Clinic in Inuvik, which served thousands of patients across the Beaufort Delta Region. The clinic has now been closed for well over a year. As a result, Semmler said "a whole region and a lot of small communities" are now getting all of their dental care through medical travel to Yellowknife. Among them is Lawrence Norbert, an elder from Tsiigehtchic who recently travelled to the capital for a dentist appointment. The 1-hour appointment meant spending nearly 3 days away from home – over half of which was spent travelling. He said it was a long trip. "[It] takes about a day to recover from the travel … it's a lot more tiring, psychologically you've got to gear yourself up, and you know in your mind you are wondering why is this happening? Territorial government response The N.W.T. government was contracted to provide dental visits to small N.W.T. communities on behalf of Indigenous Services Canada's Non-Insured Health Benefits program. The federal program covers dental care, medical travel, prescriptions, and some other health care for most First Nations and Inuit people. Semmler said Indigenous Services Canada has underfunded the territorial government for this work, making it hard to attract dentists. The territory's most recent agreement with Indigenous Services Canada expired at the end of March. In an email, Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Pascal Laplante said that the federal government won't enter into a new agreement during the election period, but "services will still be available while the new agreement is being negotiated." When asked if the federal government was willing to provide more funding, Laplante said the federal government does not make commitments during election periods. Perry Heath, the director of medical insurance for the N.W.T. Department of Health and Social Services, said dentists wanted to see some major changes before signing up to provide dental visits to small communities. Those changes include more flexibility in how long they visit communities, better dental equipment in communities, and an increase in their payment rates through the Non-Insured Health Benefits program. Heath said the territorial government has applied for funding from Health Canada to upgrade dental facilities, and is hoping to get the funding this spring. But payments for dental visits and the number of dental days for each community is decided by Indigenous Services Canada. "Our hands are really tied," Semmler said. Dental services in Sahtú, Gamètì, Whatì and Fort Resolution in limbo after requests for service cancelled As for the lack of dentist in Inuvik, Semmler said that's also out of the territorial government's hands. "It's a private business," she said. "We don't have control over why they're leaving." Heath said that until these issues with dental travel are resolved, N.W.T. residents are likely to see the same problems with a lack of medical travel accommodations whenever there is a spike in tourism in the N.W.T. capital. "Will the pressures continue? Yes, they will," he said. 'It's a long trip' But for N.W.T. residents, travel to Yellowknife every time they need dental care is far from an ideal solution. Norbert said between the time and the cost of all of this medical travel, it doesn't make sense to have so many people visit Yellowknife instead of having dentists visit them. "It just boggles the mind. All of this airfare is adding up week after week, month after month, year after year." Norbert wasn't impressed, either, with the responses from the territorial and federal government as to why dental visits haven't resumed – calling their answers "very bureaucratic." He's also found himself entertaining some painful alternatives to travel.
CBC
14-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
N.W.T. to receive $185M in tobacco settlement
The Northwest Territories health minister says the N.W.T. is expecting about $185 million as part of a national settlement with tobacco companies. The Superior Court of Ontario has ordered tobacco companies to pay $32.5 billion to provinces and territories in what officials say is the largest resolution of its kind in Canadian history. The ruling was for the impact smoking has had on Canadians and its cost to the health system. The N.W.T.'s share is an anticipated $185 million with a $44 million initial payment and the rest to be paid over 18 years, according to a news release Friday morning. The release states that that balance is contingent on the companies' future revenues. Health Minister Lesa Semmler says the territory will use the funds to "enhance the efficiency of our health care system" and to support preventative care. She says the N.W.T. already runs education campaigns on the dangers of smoking, restricts smoking locations, has advertising bans, labels on health risks and increased taxes on reduce smoking rates. Smoking rates in the N.W.T. have dropped by nearly 20 per cent in the last two decades, with 46 per cent of residents reporting smoking in 2002 and 28 per cent in 2023. "Our goal remains to bring that number to zero," Semmler said.
CBC
11-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
5-bedroom transitional home opens in Yellowknife for people back from addictions treatment
Social Sharing A five-bedroom home in Yellowknife will host a new transitional housing program for people returning from addictions treatment. On Monday afternoon, the territorial government, City of Yellowknife and Salvation Army unveiled the home — the first of its kind for the Transitional Housing for Addictions Recovery Program (THARP). The program came about as an effort to close a gap in aftercare services for people returning from treatment. "We are not just opening a building. We are opening up a new chapter of hope and healing," said Lucy Kuptana, the N.W.T.'s housing minister. Laughter — and perhaps a poignant moment — rose as a fierce wind attempted to blow down signs for the housing announcement behind her. "That's what we need to do throughout the North, is stabilize housing," she said with a chuckle, steadying the signs. Billed as the first program of its kind in the N.W.T. and located in a residential neighbourhood, the home will have staff with training in addictions treatment on-site 24 hours a day. Health and Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler said it would provide "stable, sober housing" for residents. Semmler said her department would be working closely with the Salvation Army, which will run the residence and deliver programming. Tony Brushett, the Salvation Army's executive director, said the hope is that the program will help people who don't have stable housing. The organization is hoping to start welcoming residents in April. He said in the past, the Salvation Army has been able to help people go south for longer treatment programs — but there was little support when they returned. "They would quite often finish those programs and get dropped right in front of the shelter they came from, which was the epicentre of where their problems were," he said. The home was purchased and renovated with $1.3 million in federal money, applied for by the N.W.T. government through Yellowknife's partnership with the federal Reaching Home strategy. A similar transitional housing project is expected to open in Inuvik later this year.
