Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 02/05) - The Northwest Territories' only audiologist is leaving Yellowknife mid- November.

That will leave residents scrambling for care until a full-time audiologist returns from sabbatical next summer, said Esther Braden, president of the Yellowknife branch of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association.

The Yellowknife branch of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association is worried that the North is losing its only audiologist. President Esther Braden, seen here with Margaret Green, says the government needs to up its salary and benefits package or no one will take the job. - Lisa Scott/NNSL photo

Braden fired off a letter to the Minister of Health and Social Services Michael Miltenberger, asking the government to increase salary and benefits for the position.

In the legislative assembly last week, Miltenberger called the pay and benefits "competitive."

According to a Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists salary survey, audiologists in the NWT make $65,811 - the same as in British Columbia

The job commands $71,948 in Ontario and $60,502 in the prairies.

The difference, says Braden, is in more than 50 days of travel to remote communities in the NWT and Nunavut that are involved in the position and the high cost of living in the North.

"We feel that the package could be improved," she said.

Miltenberger said a locum has been hired until Christmas. A long-running ad remains on the department's website for two audiologists.

It offers $67,685-$76,600 in pay, plus benefits.

"It's an issue. With every health profession, there seems to be a shortage," said Miltenberger.

Despite the difficulty to attract even one audiologist North, the department has a plan to recruit five.

It is proposing teams of health professionals, including audiologists, to be set up in the South Slave, the Sahtu and Deh Cho and Yellowknife by 2006.

"It's going to distribute the workload, minimize the travel and cut caseloads," said Miltenberger, who is examining the salary package.

Braden said the association is waiting to see how professionals respond to the recruitment effort.

"If somebody doesn't respond, it's obvious the package isn't attractive enough," she said.

The hard of hearing association is opening a clinic at the Baker Centre next week to meet needs of some hard-of-hearing.

Volunteers are offering, particularly to seniors, general information, hearing loss tests and help with hearing aids.