Inuvik hospital short of doctors, nurses
Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Feb 12/01) - Inuvik residents are happy with nurses and doctors who treat them at Inuvik Regional Hospital, they just wish there were more of them.
The death from tuberculosis of a Fort McPherson woman whose disease went undiagnosed by the hospital's medical staff does not alarm Mayor Peter Clarkson.
"The care level is still pretty good compared to the rest of the country," Clarkson said when asked about the impact of Effie Blake's death.
Town councillor Clarence Wood thinks Inuvik Regional's physicians and nurses "are doing their best," but, "it's very hard to attract and retain people in the North."
Ray Scott, Inuvik Regional's chief executive officer, said the shortage of physicians and nurses in the region is "acute, and it's getting more acute every day."
Ideally, the hospital should have 7.5 doctors. They currently have 3.5 doctors and expect to lose another full-time doctor by the end of the month.
Nurses are even harder to recruit and retain, Scott said.
"That's not a even just a local problem. It's a territorial problem, it's a national problem, and it's an international problem," he said.
The shortage of nurses and doctors has repercussions far beyond the initial crimp it puts into patient care.
"It's a vicious circle," says Scott. "Those who are left tend to burn out faster."
Inuvik Health Board representative Derek Lindsay agreed that it's difficult to retain qualified health care providers, and blamed the federal government for underfunding health care.
"(Prime Minister Jean) Chretien should funnel some of that so-called surplus into health care," he said.
Clarkson said that Inuvik residents get a level emergency treatment that the south can only envy.
"One of my friends in Calgary, one of their little ones hurt themselves and they took him to the hospital," said Clarkson. "They ended up waiting for two hours. My little guy, he fell down and cut his face, and we walked right in and saw someone."
