Latest news with #NTHSSA
Hamilton Spectator
25-07-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Stanton hospital avoids understaffed emergency room in July
A projected shortage of emergency room doctors at Stanton Territorial Hospital has been avoided. Officials with Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) said on July 24 that all required shifts have been staffed, which the health authority attributes to a 'shift bidding' system. That program was implemented at the start of the month, allowing locum doctors to name their price for an emergency shift. The program will continue until Sept. 2, with officials noting a majority of August shifts have been filled. 'It is a tremendous relief to look at the ED (emergency department) schedule and see that most of the shifts are filled and know that we will be able to provide care in safe and healthy way,' said Northwest Territories Medical Association (NWTMA) President Dr. Courtney Howard. 'We thank NTHSSA for the shift-bidding initiative which has led to this reassuring result. 'We understand that moving forward the thought is to develop a mechanism whereby similar initiatives can be used during other anticipated high-needs times. We strongly support this as a proactive approach to prevent the stress involved in last-minute staffing crises,' Howard added. Emergency department locum doctors have a starting annual salary of $361,222 and can earn an extra $66,039 through the Northern Living Allowance and retention bonuses. The GNWT also covers all travel, liability and malpractice expenses. NTHSSA has been dealing with staffing shortages across the board. The emergency room at Stanton was without a doctor earlier in the year and obstetrics units have been closed several times at Inuvik Regional Hospital. Aklavik's Susie Husky Health Centre has been limited to emergency services since July 7 due to a lack of nurses to fill shifts and it's expected to remain that way until July 31. The health authority noted that the bidding system was a contingency plan to prevent regular staff from getting overworked by having to toil longer hours or back-to-back shifts. 'Physicians are essential members of high-functioning healthcare teams, as front-line workers, as leaders in making the best possible contingency plans, and as advocates for patients and the system,' said NTHSSA territorial medical director Dr. Claudia Kraft. 'This experience has been valuable, offering a fresh opportunity to connect with both new and familiar locums in meaningful ways. It sparked insightful questions and inspired some innovative ideas within the team. 'We're hopeful that the connections we've made, and the lessons we've learned from this experience, will help us refine and enhance our approach to future engagement and staffing.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
06-06-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
NTHSSA planning pop up immunization clinics to combat measles
Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority is planning 'pop up clinics' around the territory to provide measles vaccines to those who need it. An announcement was released May 23. 'NTHSSA remains committed to supporting this response and is actively planning clinics focused on the MMR vaccine, to ensure eligible residents who are not immunized, can protect themselves from potential exposures in the future,' said the unattributed press release. 'The NTHSSA also appreciates the cooperation and patience from the public as staff worked to mitigate further exposure of the virus.' No dates or locations have been announced to date, but NTHSSA is directing people to for information on when and where the clinics will be held. Officials also thanked Yellowknife Public Health staff for efforts to to immunize students and staff at number of schools in the Yellowknife area following the closure of Weledeh Catholic School and St. Pat's High School on May 5 following a confirmed measles exposure. 'Their rapid response has played a crucial role in helping to curb the spread of the virus and highlights the often unseen but vital work being done behind the scenes to safeguard the health and well-being of our community,' says the release. 'This includes health care staff who were redeployed to support a large volume of immunization requests received within the first 24 hours of the Public Health Advisory, as well as staff who worked behind the scenes to quickly stand up emergency management measures.' Measles, also known as rubeola, is a highly contagious disease that can have serious complications for children, pregnant women and people who are immunocompromised. Symptoms can appear anywhere from one to three weeks after exposure and complications can range from pneumonia to encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, which can lead to seizures, brain damage and even death. Symptoms of measles include high fever, a cough and runny nose, red and sore eyes and a red blotchy rash that starts on the face and spreads down the body. It is spread through the air by coughing or sneezing, and can also be transmitted through saliva by kissing. The virus can linger in the air for up to two hours after someone coughs and is most contagious before symptoms appear. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
30-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Health care premiums not the solution to NWT's failing system, says MLA
Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart says plans by Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) to explore potential user fees and premiums for health care services is going in the wrong direction. On May 16, the seven-page public administrator's work plan was released. It detailed what NTHSSA public administrator Dan Florizone has done since he was appointed on Dec. 16, 2024, and provided a timeline for several projects. Those included developing a proposal on how to bring services closer to small communities by November of this year, streamlining the medical travel process and establishing an employee acquisition plan by June. It also calls for a review of budgets and a survey of potential revenue sources, 'including supporting the establishment of income assessment and fee collection structures, as applicable' by December. NNSL Media reached out to NTHSSA for clarification on what fee collection structures would look like in practice. 'As part of the expenditure reduction plan, the Public Administrator has directed NTHSSA to work with the Department of Health and Social Services to review options related to user fees and health care premiums,' said Krystal Pidborochynski, NTHSSA's communications and public affairs director in response. 'The aim is to reduce the projected deficit while prioritizing the essential programs and services that residents, especially those in smaller regions and communities, rely on. 'The NTHSSA has a responsibility to manage its limited resources responsibly. Without an increase in funding – including for example those provided through the Government of Canada for the Medical Travel and Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Programs – the NTHSSA needs to make difficult decisions to ensure the long-term sustainability and health of the organization.' Testart said most people in the territory, even many well-paid government employees, are already effectively living paycheque to paycheque and adding more costs to their monthly budgets could push them to the breaking point. Instead, he called on the GNWT to take the fight to Ottawa, particularly surrounding medical travel and NIHB, which he said the federal government should be funding. 'There's a big portion of that which isn't being covered by the federal government,' he said. 'So there is a role to play for Ottawa to increase the revenue. But if we're serious about that side of the issue, we should be playing hardball with the federal government and basically telling them 'If you're not going to cover these services, neither are we — and you've got a year to sort this out.' 'The NIHB program should be funded by Ottawa and current the NWT subsidizes that program. It is a problem that needs to be solved — we have a new government, we have a new focus on the North and a Northern prime minister, so the timing is right to have that conversation. Don't pussyfoot around, take bold action and get their attention. If you keep doing what you've been doing for the last 10 years or more, probably since the last NIHB and medical travel agreements were signed, we'll continue to wait. We don't have time to keep bleeding money when Ottawa is not keeping up with its responsibilities to Northerners and, more importantly, honouring its treaty obligations to Indigenous people in Northern Canada.' NTHSSA should be looking towards its upper management when looking for cost savings, said Testart, rather than targeting the end user for revenue. He repeated his call for higher compensation for medical staff in the NWT to cover the higher cost of living and the remote nature of the work. He said discussions about 'slaying the deficit' should take backseat to improving health care delivery, noting NTHSSA has been operating at a loss since its inception. 'We need to create an advantage up here, making people pay more for health care is not going to do that,' he said. 'If that means our health care system is more expensive then so be it, but right now it's expensive and its failing.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
17-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Health staff gave up long weekend plans to keep Yellowknife ER open, official says
Social Sharing The public administrator of the N.W.T. Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) says Yellowknife's emergency department will remain open over long weekend because health-care workers adjusted their vacation plans. The acknowledgement came during a public briefing for a legislative committee meeting on Friday. It was a chance for MLAs to question the health minister and Dan Florizone, the NTHSSA public administrator, on an action plan for the territory's beleaguered health-care system. 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 function. Florizone told MLAs at Friday's meeting that the emergency room will be staffed this weekend "because of the goodwill of the emergency room doctors and the staff who have cancelled their plans and adjusted. "I can tell you that this summer and this period is worse than we've ever experienced… but we're going to work really hard, that everyday we get a bit better." 'Those doors will never close' The meeting started with a presentation from Florizone about how he planned to improve the territory's health-care system. It was followed by questions from MLAs. Yellowknife MLA Julian Morse asked whether Florizone had listened to another committee meeting held late last month with members of the N.W.T. Medical Association, where physicians described the dire situation facing the territory. Florizone said he was surprised by the comments as he says NTHSSA officials have been meeting regularly with the N.W.T. Medical Association and are working on shared priorities. Health Minister Lesa Semmler also pushed back on the suggestion that the emergency department might close because of staffing. "Statements like that put the fear in our residents," she said. "Those doors will never be closed and there will be support and there are many contingency plans to do that." Incredible sacrifices amid systemic failures, MLA says Later in the briefing on Friday, MLA Shauna Morgan again raised the subject of staffing in the Stanton emergency room and said the physicians keeping it open are already being overworked. "Ever since COVID, we all like to talk about how health-care workers are heroes and they do amazing work and the sacrifices they make," she said. "We have frontline workers who are working and making incredible sacrifices despite the systemic failures around them." Morgan says she understands that the health department and NTHSSA don't want to alarm the public, but she said pushing overworked health-care workers to the breaking point isn't a viable solution. "What I want to see in these strategies and in the actions being taken, first and foremost, is that we stop assuming that staff will always take the extra load, they'll take those extra shifts, they'll not take these vacations," Morgan said. It was Morgan's comments that prompted Florizone to acknowledge the workers keeping the emergency room open over the long weekend. 52 small improvements Florizone also talked about his role as public administrator and what he and his team were working toward accomplishing. He told MLAs that his role as public administrator is temporary and once changes are enacted he will leave the position and a new governance structure will be established. He also spoke about a trip he took to Jean Marie River First Nation to see the health facility there. He described it as an eye-opening visit and said his priority is to ensure people in communities like Jean Marie River can access better health care, closer to home. Florizone said they are also taking suggestions from frontline staff and other organizations, like the medical association, about improving the system. He said the plan will be to listen to a suggestion for a small improvement and incorporate it to see how it works. Florizone says the goal is to make 52 small improvements in 52 weeks.
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
NWT nurses need higher pay, says MLA
A nursing shortage continues in the Northwest Territories and one MLA says the solution is offering higher wages. Over the past two years, staffing shortages have forced the closure of key health services in the NWT, including several closures of the obstetrics unit in Inuvik. Noting the country is experiencing a nursing shortage across the board, a spokesperson for Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority [NTHSSA] told NNSL Media that the NWT government filled 340.3 full-time equivalencies out of 360 front-line nursing positions budgeted for in 2024-25. 'Our continuing goal is to have as many of these filled as possible,' said NTHSSA communications director Krystal Pidborochynski. 'The NTHSSA may sometimes use agency nurses to fill gaps to prevent closure of essential services. The number changes depending on need. Currently the NTHSSA is using obstetrics nurses at Stanton Territorial Hospital and Inuvik Regional Hospital to fill gaps, as required.' Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart said the GNWT needs to start listening to what the College of Nurses (College and Association of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut) keeps telling them. The use of agency nurses, he noted, was particularly demoralizing for full-time staff and was pushing nurses away. 'Agency nurses are very well compensated,' he said. 'I think we should join in with other provinces and phase them out by 2026 and work on expanding our pool of locums. 'More importantly, training Indigenous and Northern nurses to stay in the NWT — we should be spending out money on the nurses who live here. We shouldn't be flying in private nurses who criss-cross across the country and get paid sometimes double what our staff are making. That's completely unacceptable.' Testart added that he's spoken to nurses who have been denied leave simply because there wasn't enough staff on hand to allow them to have time off. He said since the November 2023 territorial election, he's spoken to numerous nurses contending with low wages, extremely long hours and difficult conditions who simply had to stop working because they were burned out. 'I've seen nurses leave,' he said. 'Not just one, or two or three — but close to a dozen. That's a significant loss to the community. 'They're not being heard. They're not being properly compensated. We're not incentivizing front-line work.' A regularly updated action plan, similar to what Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has done since being elected, would help restore confidence in the territorial health authority, he added. Another area he suggested should be changed is how work schedules are handled — in most of the country a special agency oversees schedules, but in the NWT the task falls on nurses to organize themselves. Testart likened the situation to a supply and demand situation, noting the shortage of nurses simply means individual practitioners are simply worth more. 'When you have a supply shortage, the price goes up,' he said. 'If there's a shortage of nurses, you pay them more — and you find ways to do that.' May 12–18 is National Nursing Week. FACT FILE How NWT nurse wages compare to the rest of Canada
