Two Yellowknife MLAs pressed the Health minister on the availability of doctors and the role of the NWT's new top health administrator during debate in the legislative assembly on Feb. 10.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins inquired about how access to physicians could be restructured.
"I ask the minister of Health and Social Services, why can't our system be set up in a way that we assign patients to doctors as opposed to the other way around?" he queried.
Hawkins' question pertains to primary care reform in the NWT, which has been taking place for the past year or so. Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan previously told SA国际影视传媒 that most doctors have been taking on new caseloads of patients and the reform has created a burden of paperwork and administrative duties that are taking up more time than ever before.
Ironically, the intention behind the reform was to improve access to a family doctor, said Morgan. But with no added doctors to the system, there's less time for doctors to see patients in the first place.
On Feb. 4, Semmler told SA国际影视传媒 that primary care reform emphasizes teamwork.
"Physician-based care was a model that we used to practice, and now we're going to team-based care," she said.
Semmler added that all other jurisdictions across Canada are moving towards primary care teams.
"Anyone who has a healthcare need, then you see the person that meets your scope of practice within that team," the minister said.
That means someone might not always see a physician, they might see a nurse instead.
Answering Hawkins' question in the legislature, Semmler said there are doctors assigned to the primary care teams in Yellowknife.
"That's the structure that we work around now," she said.
She also said she has not heard from any physicians who want to go back to a fee-for-service model, but committed to raising the issue with the NWT Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) to see if anyone there has heard otherwise.
Next to question the minister was Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart, who specifically asked about the role of the new public administrator for NTHSSA.
In December, Semmler decided to replace the authority's leadership council with a public administrator. She said then the council did not fit the needs of the current health and social services system.
That council comprised nine members. It included a chair appointed by the minister, the chair of each of the six regional wellness councils, the chair of the Tlicho Community Services Agency and the deputy minister of the Department of Health and Social Services.
Now, Saskatchewan's Dan Florizone, a former senior executive of multiple health regions, is responsible for the work that the council used to do. Testart asked Semmler about the need for an administrator. The minister cited mounting financial pressures the council was facing.
"We also have recruitment issues, morale issues," Semmler said of the council.
She added that past board members all have other careers. Now, there is more focus for the public administrator to work with chairs from the regional wellness council, according to Semmler.
But with no new or different powers than the original council, Testart pressed Semmler on why her decision will help improve efficiency in the healthcare system.
"What is he doing right now is he's analyzing, he's working," said Semmler of Florizone. "He's working with the regional wellness chairs, getting their feedback. He is doing the work that he needs to do right now with the CEO, understanding the complexities of our organization, and he will be coming back with a plan."
Semmler added that once she's in receipt of that plan, she'll share it with regular MLAs so everyone can understand how the territory is going to ensure healthcare in the NWT is sustainable and that residents have access to it.
