What MLAs have identified as a “healthcare crisis” in N.W.T. is expected to be a major area of discussion during the latest sitting at the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly.
The Assembly began its seven day spring sitting today in the city of Yellowknife.
On May 8 MLAs Robert Hawkins, Richard Edjericon, and Kieron Testart called on GNWT to “take responsibility and act immediately” to address the crisis.
The MLAS said they are prepared to support confidence motions if urgent steps are not taken to respond to the concerns of patients and the skilled professionals they rely on.”
MLAs Hawkins, Edjericon and Testart pointed out that they have been calling for substantive healthcare reforms since the 2023 election. They reaffirmed their intention to mobilize improvements as identified by the NWT Medical Association.
The medical association recently released a report calling for changes, titled Crisis in Care to the Standing Committee on Social Development.
The medical association’s presentation earlier this year warned that N.W.T. currently has major doctor shortages. They reported a family doctor vacancy rate of 49 per cent, a specialist vacancy rate of 42 per cent, while 63 per cent of doctors in the region are considering walking away from their jobs.
In their announcement, the MLAs also spoke out against the dissolution of the NWT Health and Social Services Authority Leadership Council. The council was replaced by Public Administrator Robert Florizone.
The MLAs urged that the health care model in place is not functional and does not consider the voices of front-line workers and patients.
NWT has seen several closures and near-closures over the past few years. Hay River Regional Health Care Centre has gone without an emergency doctor for almost 2 weeks total in the month of May. A few weeks ago, doctors at Stanton Territorial Hospital warned that the hospital’s ER could face closure by May.
Last month, ER doctor Courtney Howard spoke to members of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly saying that the situation was at a “crisis point.”
MLAs Hawkins, Edjericon and Testart announced “calls to action” in response to what they have identified as a “healthcare crisis” affecting the territories:
- Establishing a ministerial working group composed of Cabinet and Regular Members to oversee primary care reform and health system sustainability.
- Moving to interest-based negotiations with the NWT Medical Association before fall 2025.
- Publicly releasing the details of the new locum contract for emergency department doctors.
- Improving flexibility in locum contracts to support physician retention and recruitment.
- Phasing out agency nurses by 2026.
- Strengthening collective bargaining practices for healthcare workers to ensure frontline voices are meaningfully heard in negotiations.
- Enhancing financial incentives for shift work for all healthcare workers.
- Implementing minimum staff-to-patient ratios at all NWT hospitals.
- Supporting practitioner-led innovation to drive continuous improvement on the front lines.
- Negotiating physician licence-sharing between Nunavut and Alberta to eliminate red tape and speed physician entry into the NWT healthcare system.
- Prioritizing pan-national physician licensing in the GNWT’s federal engagement strategy.
- Fast-tracking policies on emerging medical technologies such as AI, e-consults, and virtual care (e.g., robotic ultrasonography).
- Expanding the role of auxiliary care in hospitals and community health centres to integrate advanced care paramedics into emergency medicine.
