{"id":224449,"date":"2025-10-19T11:23:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T11:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/224449\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T11:23:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T11:23:20","slug":"it-does-worry-me-health-care-shortages-top-of-mind-for-some-rural-yukon-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/224449\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It does worry me’: Health care shortages top of mind for some rural Yukon voters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Staff shortages at Yukon’s smaller community health centres are not new, but some residents say this past year has been especially bad.<\/p>\n

Some of those centres \u2014 in Faro, Pelly Crossing, Ross River \u2014 have been without nurses<\/a> for days and even weeks at a time, with sometimes just a paramedic on staff. In Faro, the situation led to a month-long closure this past September. <\/p>\n

Maryann Etzel lives in Ross River and had to drive five hours to Whitehorse last month when her local health centre was closed. In Whitehorse, she then waited a further five hours in the emergency room for care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very hard on me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt does worry me. We could have an emergency, and living in a small community, we don\u2019t have the resources, we need accommodation, travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Louie Tommy, a Ross River Dena Council elder, described being recently ill with the flu and returning to the clinic multiple times over a period of days. Each time, it was closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned about the people of Ross River,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople need to understand the necessity of a health centre in our community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the Ross River facility is now open and staffed, a doctor isn\u2019t available to visit the community until December.\u00a0The health centre is typically staffed by two primary care nurses, and a physician visits around once every two weeks.<\/p>\n

In the Dena General Store in Ross River, Joanna Dick put up a flyer with information about the federal Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program. The program helps First Nations people with things like medical travel when provincial or territorial health care is not available.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AA flyer offering additional medical support, posted at the Dena General Store in Ross River this month. (Chlo\u00e9 Dior\u00e9 de P\u00e9rigny\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a new strategy to help address the doctor and nursing shortage,\u201d she said. \u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of people out there that are shocked, because I was too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a shocking thing that\u2019s happening right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

How parties say they\u2019ll help<\/p>\n

Yukon’s three political parties, now on the campaign trail, have each announced health care promises that touch on rural needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Yukon Party has promised to launch a \u201crobust recruitment campaign\u201d to attract health-care workers to rural Yukon and \u201coffer incentives for them to establish roots.\u201d The party also promised to better support home care workers and community teams, review medical travel rates, and work to develop medical lodging options in Whitehorse and Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cRural Yukoners have unique needs and make significant contributions to our territory,\u201d said Patti McLeod, the Yukon Party’s candidate for Watson Lake, Ross River and Faro, in a news release. \u201cEnsuring their health care needs are met is truly important to the Yukon Party team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Liberals, in power since 2016, say they would expand home care support in rural communities, \u201cevaluate long term care options beyond Whitehorse,\u201d continue work on a medical travel lodge in Whitehorse, and increase aftercare support.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder our government, nurse vacancy rates have dropped from nearly 50 per cent to under 20 per cent, and we\u2019ve strengthened recruitment with both local and international efforts,\u201d wrote party spokesperson Laura Seeley in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also said the Liberals will “expand the Yukon\u2019s family physician residency program<\/a>, so more doctors train and stay here.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Yukon NDP party addressed the ongoing clinic closures directly, promising to hire 10 new nurse practitioners, raise wages, and launch a community nurse support program to help retain those workers. The program would cover relocation costs and offer social and housing supports.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many Yukoners are finding our community health centres closed for weeks at a time,\u201d said Josie O\u2019Brien, NDP candidate for Ross River, Faro and Watson Lake, in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur health care is strongest when care is close to home, but under the Liberals, communities like Ross River, Faro and Carmacks are being left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

That message resonates with Louie Tommy in Ross River.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the NDP would help a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Liberals don\u2019t do their job. They\u2019re supposed to be here, helping.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Find someone that\u2019s going to stay here and be here’<\/p>\n

George Skookum, a program coordinator for Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation says he\u2019s happy with the quality of care he\u2019s received in Carmacks. He says at times it’s faster than when he lived in Whitehorse. He chalks this up to having health care workers who call Carmacks home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the key \u2013 that you find someone that\u2019s going to stay here and be here,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AGeorge Skookum is mostly satisfied with the quality of health care in Carmacks. He chalks it up to having health care workers who calls the community home. (Chlo\u00e9 Dior\u00e9 de P\u00e9rigny\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Matt Wilson, a nurse based in Carmacks, agreed, especially in light of the \u201chistorical\u201d mistrust some rural and Indigenous residents may have towards health care workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you build a connection with the community, people definitely open up more and you can better address some of their health care needs or challenges,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson says providing continuity of care can be especially important when it comes to those in need of chronic case or long-term disease management.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the challenges with transient [workers] is people not feeling connected to those providers,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that they\u2019re not good providers. It just takes time to build connections with some people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Residents in Faro and Ross River who spoke to CBC News expressed similar feelings. <\/p>\n

The challenge can be finding health care workers who want to settle in those smaller communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AThe health centre in Ross River, Yukon. (Chlo\u00e9 Dior\u00e9 de P\u00e9rigny\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Several people, like Joanna Dick in Ross River, said more opportunities for local health education could help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we could do a program in our own community, educate people in our own community, then we wouldn\u2019t have to find someone from out of the Yukon to come to our place,\u201d said Dick. \u201cIf we had our own people that could offer that knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

All three parties have committed to offering more health care training in the territory.<\/p>\n

The Ross River Dena Council has at times used its limited budget to help members with emergency medical evacuations.<\/p>\n

Some rural residents appreciate the promises to improve the medical travel system, but many told CBC News they they wish care was available closer to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really unfortunate this is happening right now,\u201d said longtime Faro resident Glenis Allen, speaking of the health centre closures and service reductions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A‘It\u2019s really unfortunate this is happening right now,’ said Glenis Allen in Faro. (Chlo\u00e9 Dior\u00e9 de P\u00e9rigny\/CBC)<\/p>\n

She\u2019s skeptical any party promises will outlast the current campaign, but she says support is sorely needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impacts are especially bad on the older generation, people with chronic illnesses,\u201d she said. \u201cThey may be forced to leave the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For many with deep ties to their communities, that\u2019s difficult to think about.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCarmacks is important to me,\u201d said George Skookum. \u201cI grew up here, I have grandkids here. You want to make sure they\u2019re looked after when they need care.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staff shortages at Yukon’s smaller community health centres are not new, but some residents say this past year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-224449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}