Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Hay River (Aug 07/00) - The town of Hay River is in the midst of a health-care crisis.

"We have a situation whereby we have a shortage of full-time, permanent physicians," said Wes Drodge, CEO of the Hay River Community Health Board.

The town has been without a full-time doctor for one month now.

The physicians who decided to leave Hay River did so for various personal reasons, said Drodge.

Several locum doctors are currently providing health care in the community. Drodge said the length of time these doctors spend in the town varies, on average, from one to six weeks.

The Hay River Community Health Board has had a recruitment program in place for some time, but Drodge said the health board is having the same difficulties hiring doctors as other boards across the country.

"We're talking about a shortage of physicians all across Canada and also in the territories.

"We have recruitment efforts under way with the government and with other physicians, advertisements in journals and newspapers and (we're) talking to the locums about who might be in a position to move here," Drodge said.

However, he said locums usually have a practice of their own and are not prepared to pick up and move to a new community.

Jane Groenewegen, MLA for Hay River South and minister of Health and Social Services, said the regional health boards and governmental departments are doing everything they possibly can to encourage physicians to stay in the North.

"We're doing everything we can to ensure that the compensation is competitive and that the working conditions are attractive for physicians," she said.

Groenewegen said she is hopeful the situation will soon be remedied, as some of the locums currently working in Hay River are considering more permanent positions.

She is not aware of a specific reason why all of the permanent doctors decided to leave Hay River, but believes it's just a "coincidence."

"But it certainly is reflective of the fact that there is a shortage of physicians all across the country."

Groenewegen has called for a press conference at the legislative assembly tomorrow to discuss issues related to doctor shortages and measures the government plan on taking to try to alleviate the situation.