The Campus of Care model that saw Primary Care services combined with the $350-million Stanton Territorial Hospital was given a failing grade by Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan today in the NWT Assembly.
The moving of integrated care teams from Yellowknife Primary Care Centre and Frame Lake Community Health Clinic, as well as all outpatient rehabilitation services staff, previously located in the Centre Square Mall and Stanton Medical Clinic has proved stressful, she said.
Those services moved into the Łıwegǫ̀atì Building last May, with many patients having their doctors switched up and medical staff also being re-organized into four new teams.
“I’m hearing from constituents that there is such extreme frustration amongst front line health-care practitioners that a significant number have left their jobs over the past six months, and we are in danger of losing the rest — that’s physicians, nurses, NPs, LPNs, and even program assistants,” said the MLA.
Health and Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler in the Assembly on Tuesday. (Image courtesy of Assembly livestream)
Morgan suggested that not enough care was taken to understand how these changes would impact the day-to-day functioning of primary care practitioners and their patients.
As a result, she said, we have taken some major steps backwards in terms of continuity of care and patients’ access to doctors.
“This doesn’t seem to have been a temporary blip. It has resulted in lasting chaos, inefficiency and burnout, not to mention morale distress when physicians are prevented from adequately caring for their patients.”
Morgan said she has heard from primary care physicians who say they’ve had 50-per-cent less time in their schedules to see patients, as more paperwork was directly caused by the overhaul.
“That means that the long-term relationships physicians developed with their partners patients due to regular coverage, was lost. Larger teams also mean that the program assistance and LPNs must take on bigger burdens, which can lead to burnout, and it makes the teams less efficient overall,” she said.
“This is not just the Yellowknife issue, as many primary care practitioners regularly serve communities outside Yellowknife, and it goes far beyond a few grumpy staff who simply don’t like change or don’t want to be team players.
Minister of Health and Social Services Lesa Semmler said that with no added resources in primary care, the delivery model has been reorganized with the intent to deliver a more equitable access to service.
She said the restructuring and transition to Łıwegǫ̀atì Building proved to be a “relatively a seamless process.”
The Minister said all team members were kept informed, engaged throughout numerous meetings, discussions, as much as leadership could manage.
“I understand that with any change … there may be there may be questions and there may be things that people don’t agree with and don’t like, but this is a new change and they are just recently starting the four teams.”
Meanwhile, Dehcho MLA Sheryl Yakeleya raised the issue of the Dehcho Bridge stiil reduced to one lane, with a lengthy wait if you catch the automated lights at one end of the structure.
The Deh Cho Bridge is down to one lane traffic until further notice. The timer shows 503 seconds left to wait. Here wildfire smoke darkens the sky last summer. (James O’Connor/CKLB)
“Constituents in my riding frequently use the Dehcho Bridge, and they are concerned about the traffic delays and worried about potential safety issues,” said the MLA.
“My constituents aren’t the only ones impacted. The bridge is important for many residents of the NWT and for tourism and other industries, as this is a year-round highway linking Yellowknife to the South.”
Infrastructure Minister Caroline Wawzonek explained the original damage was originally noticed in 2023 and after testing, turned out to be a weak metal connector holding the cables to the bed.
Wawzonek dismissed initial speculation by the public that a truck had hit the cable.
A decision was made to return to the original bridge builders to have all the 24 hangers on the bridge re-cast. After some delays, they are in transit and expected to arrive next month.
And Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins introduced a potentially disturbing mystery to the proceedings on Tuesday when he asked Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler about allegations made in a July email to her department and copied to others in government.
“I won’t name the particular facility, but it was highlighting something very serious. The subject matter in part, reads urgent Child and Youth safety concerns … ”
Quoting from the email, Hawkins said: “I am writing to you today with a serious concern safety risks to children and youth that are occurring.”
Hawkins noted the author alleged potential human rights issues, abuse and neglect.
“This is quite distressing for someone like myself, because thinking about our most vulnerable may be trapped in a particular situation, and more so it bothers me that the department may be taking a lackadaisical approach on how to investigate. I don’t know if they’re facts, but the (concerned citizen) is concerned enough to put them in writing to the department.”
Minister Semmler confirmed an investigation in ongoing into the allegations, so she couldn’t provide any further information.
