Hay River (Feb 27/06) - The doctor shortage in Hay River continues rolls on. In fact, the town will be down to just one doctor for most of this week from a normal complement of three or four.

Paul Vieira, the CEO of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, stands in a corridor of H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Making matters worse, the last two permanent physicians are getting ready to leave town, leaving Hay River to rely even more on locums -- doctors who travel to different communities for short periods.

"The shortages are just throwing this hospital into a tizzy," says Joe Mercredi, who has been a patient in extended care at H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital for more than a year with diabetes and heart problems.

"There's no continuity, at all," Mercredi says, noting he has seen nine different doctors in his time at the hospital.

"One leaves and another one comes in."

Mercredi, 67, says the new doctors, mostly short-term locum physicians, don't know patients and have to be told people's problems all over again.

The 67-year-old describes the situation as frustrating.

"If they spend more than 10 minutes with you, you're lucky."

The shortage has also meant the closure of the walk-in clinic since before Christmas, although appointments are still available.

Eileen Collins, the president of the Hay River Seniors Society, notes some people are concerned about the short amount of time they have with a doctor when they do get an appointment.

"One of the comments I heard was 'We've got fast food medicine here - in and out,'" Collins says.

She says there is also concern about continuity of service from locums. "You go in and they don't know you."

Still, Collins says she hasn't heard of any dire or drastic consequences. "People are getting looked after. I don't think anyone is falling through the cracks."

Collins also believes the health authority is doing its best to find doctors.

With the walk-in clinic closed, patients are advised to go to the hospital emergency department if they require immediate attention.

Paul Vieira, the CEO of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, says one doctor will be on call 24 hours a day for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

A doctor will come down from Yellowknife for a day and a half, he says. "to give our solo doctor a chance to rest."

The town was also briefly down to one doctor in early January.

Vieira says no locum physicians are available this week.

Three to five doctors - a combination of permanent and locum physicians - will be in town throughout the rest of March and April.

However, the town's two permanent doctors will both be leaving town, one by the end of March and the other by the end of May. As late as last fall, the town had four permanent doctors.

Vieira calls the situation in Hay River serious. "If we had no locums available the situation would be very critical."

The health authority is constantly trying to recruit doctors.

"There are some leads we have on permanents," Vieira says, noting the health authority has been trying to hire new permanent physicians since last summer with the assistance of a GNWT recruiter and two national recruiting agencies.

"The territories are competing with the rest of Canada," he says, noting Ontario is about 2,000 physicians short for its needs.

Dr. Kami Kandola, president of the NWT Medical Association, says it is difficult for only one doctor to be on call. "You really don't want to burn out your existing capacity."

Kandola notes it is a challenge to recruit doctors everywhere in the NWT.

Her association recently partnered with the Department of Health and Social Services to survey permanent physicians in the NWT to find out why they practise in the North and what they like about it.

The results are hoped to be ready by June. In the future, it is also hoped to do an exit survey to find out why doctors are leaving the NWT.

Kandola says she can't generalize about why doctors leave until information has been gathered in a systematic way.

The NWT has .69 general practitioners and .33 specialists per 1,000 people. That compares to the national figures of .97 general practitioners and .91 specialists per 1,000 people.

In a recent letter, Health Minister Michael Miltenberger assured the Hay River health authority that he and his department are committed to helping deal with the physician shortage.

He didn't return calls from News/North by deadline.