Health staff gave up long weekend plans to keep Yellowknife ER open, official says
CBC
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."
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."
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."
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