Chris Puglia
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 04/02) - Kerry Yamkowy is fed up.

Staff shortages, a ward closure, and the likelihood of further service reductions at Stanton Territorial Hospital has forced her to speak out. And she is encouraging others to do the same to let the "powers that be" know the public isn't going to stand for the cuts.

In an Aug. 30 letter to Yellowknifer, Yamkowy called for a public meeting so concerned citizens can discuss the issue.

"I think we have a real collective failure to manage (at Stanton).

"It's not just one area that has the problem it is all areas that are not doing a good job of managing. If it means replacing these people that are not doing a good job that's what we have to do," she said.

Since her letter ran, she has received a dozen calls from concerned residents, five of whom have agreed to help her outline the framework for a public meeting.

Yamkowy is determined to hold a public meeting even though the territorial government will be releasing a health strategy on Sept. 20, and an operational review of Stanton has been announced.

"I'm so fed up I don't trust anything they say," she said.

Yamkowy, who owns Keywest Travel and has lived in the North for 32 years, adds she is tired of sitting by and watching the health-care system decline.

"Up until about five years ago I thought health care in the North was excellent. Now I would be very hesitant of going to a hospital here," she said.

She says it is important for everyone to get involved, especially the business community which may have ideas that have not been considered.

"I would like to hear their (business community's) ideas on how to recruit and retain staff. They have been very successful in doing that."

Yamkowy and her group have not yet set a date for the meeting, but she is hoping it will help get things on track before a tragedy occurs. "It's (Stanton Hospital) is basically a medevac centre. All it takes is for a person to die before the whole town is in an uproar and I'd hate to see that."

Creative solutions

Larry Elkin, chair of the Stanton Territorial Health Authority, says there is a system set up for the public to have input into their health system but it has not been widely used.

"There is some level of frustration from the board because the level of public involvement in the board meetings is very small," said Elkin.

"There's all kinds of avenues to deal with this and anybody is welcome to come to those meetings."

Elkin says health authority is working to rectify the staffing crisis at Stanton Hospital.

"The authority and the board have been concerned and we are working on these matters internally. We hope we can come up with some creative solutions."

He stressed the importance of the right information getting out to the public, and added that letters to the paper like Yamkowy's do not help the situation.

"We need to ensure they (the public) have the proper information of what is going on. Causing unnecessary confusion is not helpful," said Elkin.

"We want to find solutions rather than complicate the issue."

The next Stanton Territorial Board meeting is on Sept. 24, 6 p.m., at the Baker Centre.