{"id":683593,"date":"2026-05-21T06:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/683593\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T06:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:26:25","slug":"i-told-them-i-was-alone-i-sobbed-on-the-procedure-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/683593\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I told them I was alone. I sobbed on the procedure table\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

NWT patients say they\u2019re struggling to access care through the medical travel system. Issues include excessive administrative red tape, a lack of escorts and spotty communication between patients and healthcare providers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The territory\u2019s medical travel policy covers transportation costs to get people from one place to another for necessary medical care. It\u2019s based on the principle that the cost of medical travel should not be an economic barrier to insured health services for NWT residents.<\/p>\n

But Lauren Seabrook, who lives in Yellowknife, is trying to bring attention to \u201csystemic failures\u201d she experienced during a recent series of experiences travelling for care.<\/p>\n

Seabrook works for the NWT\u2019s health authority as a pediatric occupational therapist and has a combination of several conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In February 2026, she attended what she thought would be a 90-minute outpatient gastroenterology appointment at Yellowknife\u2019s Stanton Territorial Hospital. Instead, she was admitted and started on peripheral parenteral nutrition (delivering nutrients through a vein). A few days later, she was transferred to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

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Her experience there is one that she\u2019s still trying to process, she said. <\/p>\n

The care team in Edmonton didn\u2019t know she was an NWT resident and answered her questions about follow-up care with references to Alberta-based programs, which she couldn\u2019t access unless she was an Alberta resident. When she was discharged after three weeks in hospital, it was without instructions on how to remove the stitches or what to do if things went wrong.<\/p>\n

Subsequent issues meant she had to return to the emergency room at Stanton multiple times, while trying to coordinate care with specialists in Edmonton. At one visit, she said, a general surgeon at Stanton suggested using glue to seal her leaking tube and hope it would last until a scheduled tube exchange the following week. Later, a delay in sending documents between the Stanton ER and Edmonton meant she had to wait more than 36 hours to access care, during which time she didn\u2019t have any nutrition or hydration.<\/p>\n

Back in Edmonton, asked about her follow-up care, she explained that she didn\u2019t have any. <\/p>\n

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\u201cI sobbed on the procedure table, literally sobbed. A nurse had to wipe away my tears and hold my hand,\u201d Seabrook said by email. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone in the room was shocked \u2013 not by my medical condition, but by the fact that I had no access to basic, coordinated care.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past month, she wrote, five healthcare professionals have told her it is time to seriously consider leaving the NWT.<\/p>\n

In a phone call with Cabin Radio, Seabrook said she genuinely didn\u2019t know where she would be if she didn\u2019t have a background in healthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful for medical travel \u2026 but the amount of stress and just hardship that it added took away from trying to focus on getting better,\u201d Seabrook said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not straightforward. Sometimes I think that it\u2019s designed not to be, because it\u2019s almost cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said her experience highlighted critical failures in the healthcare system when it comes to communication and continuity of care between the NWT and Alberta \u2013 red tape that harms patients and a lack of accountability.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, she said, one healthcare worker told her the NWT was simply not equipped to manage complex medical needs like hers, meaning she would be better off somewhere else.<\/p>\n

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\"WarrenWarren Glaser is seen after eyelid surgery in a submitted photo.<\/p>\n

In August and September 2025, NWT resident Warren Glaser travelled from Yellowknife to Edmonton for medical consultations with a vascular surgeon and a lung specialist. He said he refused an escort at the time because he didn\u2019t feel it was necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In March 2026, he had to go to Edmonton for an eyelid surgery that involved sedation. The surgeon told him he needed an escort but, for this new trip, he said he was denied an escort because he had said he didn\u2019t need one previously.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the letter that I sent them from the surgeon \u2026 and it clearly stated escort needed,\u201d Glaser said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, well, that\u2019s policy, and just left it at that. They wouldn\u2019t explain it any further.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also told he could only stay at Larga Edmonton, which offers accommodation for northerners on medical travel, if he didn\u2019t bring an escort. If he brought his wife, they couldn\u2019t both stay there. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, you find your own place to stay and arrange travel and everything else, and we\u2019ll give you $50 a night for a hotel room, $18 a day for food and $12 for taxis,\u201d he said. \u201cI sure don\u2019t know of any place that you can eat for $18 a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has another trip coming up to get two stents put in \u2013 he\u2019s still waiting on confirmation of the date \u2013 and worries he\u2019ll be put in the same position. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seniors living on Canada Pension and Old Age Security,\u201d he said. \u201cPutting out that kind of money, that\u2019s a hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What do doctors think?<\/p>\n

Mimmi Thompson, a family doctor who also works on labour and delivery in Yellowknife, said medical travel can also frustrate healthcare providers.<\/p>\n

Thompson, who is the NWT Medical Association\u2019s current president, said the process is inefficient and comes with a high administrative burden. Currently, program assistants shoulder much of that, she said, taking away from other care they could support.<\/p>\n

She also understands concerns about how escorts are handled.<\/p>\n

Fielding requests for escort letters in situations where it\u2019s not medically necessary and doesn\u2019t fall within the criteria for a non-medical escort can also be difficult for providers, Thompson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But she believes there are many situations where patients can benefit from having someone with them \u2013 whether that\u2019s to help them navigate the process, understand and retain information, provide additional clinical information they may not volunteer themselves, or create a more culturally safe place in a healthcare setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we end up feeling like we\u2019re having to be gatekeepers for this public funding, and that can sometimes put us at odds with the therapeutic relationship with our patients,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"KieronKieron Testart. Ollie Williams\/Cabin Radio<\/p>\n

Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart has been vocal<\/a> about what he said is a need for the GNWT to establish a policy around non-medical escorts.<\/p>\n

Escorts must be approved by the GNWT Medical Travel Office in advance, but people can fall through the cracks when they require an emergency medevac. <\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve literally had constituents whose loved ones, spouses, family members have been struggling, clinging to life, and they\u2019re being contacted by Zoom to give instructions to medical care teams,\u201d Testart said.<\/p>\n

He highlights a lack of flexibility around exceptions for complex cases. <\/p>\n

The GNWT\u2019s Medical Travel Exceptions Policy<\/a> exists for those circumstances, stating its purpose is \u201cto allow the Department of Health and Social Services to consider extraordinary health needs and\/or demonstrated undue financial hardship because of individual or unique circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Testart said every time an MLA tries to help someone get an exception, \u201cthe minister says no, it\u2019s outside the policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is obtuse, because the whole point of the policy is you can make an exception for cases that don\u2019t fall into the norm,\u201d Testart said.<\/p>\n

Regarding Seabrook\u2019s case, he added: \u201cNo one should be telling a northerner: \u2018You know what? You should leave, we\u2019re just never going to be able to help you.’\u201d<\/p>\n

How a new pilot system will work<\/p>\n

The NWT government has been hearing about medical travel concerns for years. <\/p>\n

For example, President Garry Bailey of the NWT M\u00e9tis Nation said he has pressed for work to address issues like a lack of escorts, last-minute reservations and Elders required to get through long days of medical travel with no rest.<\/p>\n

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Sometimes people will find out they\u2019re travelling the next day without even knowing what they\u2019re travelling for, Bailey said. \u201cThey should be well informed about what their issues are, what they\u2019re going there for.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bailey said NWT health minister Lesa Semmler \u201cis aware of all that\u201d after an April meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did say that they\u2019re going to be working on implementing some new rules in the next three months,\u201d he said, \u201cso we\u2019ll be following up with them to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the GNWT has a separate concern of its own: cost. A recent report<\/a> from the territory showed both case numbers and costs for medical travel have steadily increased over the past three years.<\/p>\n

To try to address both cost and user experience, the NWT\u2019s health authority is about to start a two-year pilot program<\/a> that uses newly introduced nurse case managers to coordinate medical travel appointments.<\/p>\n

\"JenniferJennifer Torode, Stanton Territorial Hospital\u2019s chief operating officer. Ollie Williams\/Cabin Radio<\/p>\n

Jennifer Torode, the health authority\u2019s chief operating officer, said she believes this program is \u201cgoing to radically change people\u2019s experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that it\u2019s stressful, it\u2019s disruptive, it\u2019s costly to the patients and families,\u201d Torode said. \u201cIt\u2019s costly to the territory and at the same time, some of the travel we believe can be avoided with better coordination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new roles don\u2019t change the policy, Torode noted, but the case managers will be instructed that if someone clearly needs support or an escort, they should be helped through the system in a way that\u2019s likely to result in approval. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIf some advocacy work is necessary within that \u2026 we\u2019re going to help do that and smooth that for the patient, so it isn\u2019t as stressful,\u201d said Torode.<\/p>\n

While a case manager likely won\u2019t be heavily involved in every single case, Torode said, she thinks they will have eyes on them all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is actually the first time that we\u2019ve had a role that\u2019s focused specifically on real-time clinical review of medical travel, looking at whether the travel is needed, if it could be avoided, and how to coordinate it the best way we can for the patient,\u201d Torode said.<\/p>\n

The pilot will start in Yellowknife, be refined through feedback, and then the health authority will consider expanding to other areas, Torode said, like Inuvik and potentially Fort Smith.<\/p>\n

A data-driven analysis of the pilot will also look at the experience in the smaller communities of Fort Resolution and \u0141\u00fats\u00ebl K\u2019\u00e9, which rely on Yellowknife as a hub, to see the impact of case managers.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, Torode said, the health authority is looking at equipping smaller health centres with better technology for virtual visits at the clinic. \u201cWe do that right now, but there\u2019s some technology we don\u2019t have that we would like to look at getting,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Torode added that patients have a role to play in coordinating medical travel. <\/p>\n

When somebody is receiving care through Alberta Health Services, she said, many of those clinics communicate directly with the patient, not through the NWT\u2019s health authority. <\/p>\n

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\u201cI think some of our patients are shocked when they call us up and say, \u2018I haven\u2019t heard about my travel down there for this,\u2019 and we don\u2019t even know about the appointment because AHS doesn\u2019t inform us,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no mechanism for many of these to come to us except through the patient \u2026 if they get a letter in the mail with an appointment on it, come into the clinic and tell us about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are the changes enough?<\/p>\n

Thompson said she thinks the case managers are a \u201cpositive step\u201d that will hopefully reduce avoidable medical travel costs and improve patient experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think this will work really well to make sure that we can ensure that travel happens when it is necessary, but it\u2019s optimized in that circumstance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The NWT Medical Association \u2013 which represents the territory\u2019s physicians \u2013 has also been advocating for modern digital health infrastructure and improved diagnostic imaging capacity.<\/p>\n

Patients and staff have long complained<\/a> about the inability of NWT and Alberta electronic medical records systems<\/a> to exchange information. \u201cWe\u2019re advocating for more seamless access to patient information across jurisdictions to improve the continuity of care for patients,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n

The association is also calling for a new CT scanner in Inuvik and an MRI in Yellowknife, which Thompson said would strengthen regional diagnostic capability, reduce travel time for patients and free up resources currently used to transfer patients south.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, she said, medical leaders from the NWT, Nunavut and Yukon sent a letter to federal ministers about these recommendations.<\/p>\n

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Though they also met with NWT MP and federal cabinet member Rebecca Alty in April, along with the Canadian Medical Association, Thompson said \u201cwe have yet to hear a comment back from the federal government on our letter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018You\u2019re losing people\u2019<\/p>\n

Torode noted that there is a difference between the medical travel nurse case managers\u2019 role and \u201cthe actual medical travel policy work that is happening at the department level.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Department of Health and Social Services\u2019 website<\/a>, work is under way to modernize aspects of the Medical Travel Policy.<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement, the department told Cabin Radio \u201cthere are updates planned to policy language for implementation in the fall of 2026, but the benefits themselves are not changing. Communications of these policy changes will be launched over the summer of 2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The department said its work will reflect feedback heard directly from residents and through the health and social services system, including input gathered during constituency tours, engagement with regional wellness councils and advice from an Indigenous advisory board.<\/p>\n

In its statement, the department said its team \u201calso reviews appeals and exception data to better understand issues that come up most often for residents.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seabrook still has no structured follow-up care, she said, since she can\u2019t access Alberta\u2019s outpatient support programs unless she\u2019s a resident and the NWT doesn\u2019t have anything to match.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She is now planning to leave the NWT and move to Alberta to access care. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s really unfortunate that it wasn\u2019t something that I chose to do, it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been forced to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that I\u2019ll always have to advocate for myself and everyone has to \u2026 that\u2019s just the system and the world we live in. But it should not be this difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things need to change so that patients don\u2019t have to advocate for themselves to a point of harm, and so that the trauma of going to get care doesn\u2019t make things worse, Seabrook said, \u201cbecause you\u2019re losing people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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