Nunavut MLA decries shortage of nurses in Gjoa Haven

Monica Ell, Nunavut’s health minister, told Gjoa Haven MLA Tony Akoak that his home community isn’t the only one suffering from a shortage of nurses. (FILE PHOTO)

Patients at Gjoa Haven’s community health centre wait too long for appointments and are complaining about other breakdowns in service, Gjoa Haven’s MLA, Tony Akoak, said in the legislative assembly last week.

“It has also been brought to my attention that residents who used to be contacted to get regular checkups are no longer seeing the nurses on a regular basis,” Akoak said Oct. 24.

“Can the [health] minister provide an update on whether the community of Gjoa Haven is experiencing a shortage of nursing staff or whether there is a higher volume of people seeking health services?”

Monica Ell, health minister, said she didn’t have specific data for Gjoa Haven at that moment but added “health professionals in Nunavut are lacking staffing.”

“Trying to retain qualified nurses to ensure that health centres are fully staffed and providing the highest level of services throughout Nunavut is usually a challenge,” said Ell, a refrain Nunavummiut have heard repeatedly over the years.

Nunavut competes with other national and international jurisdictions in hiring nurses, Ell continued.

When nursing jobs become vacant, or nurses go on holiday, “we try to staff [positions] immediately with a causal nurse and, if that’s not available, we usually try to staff it with an agency nurse,” Ell said.

Gjoa Haven residents with non-emergency concerns struggle to receive timely health care, Akoak said in the assembly — a longstanding issue in the community, and likely others as well.

“Residents of Gjoa Haven understand that when there’s an emergency, health centre staff meet to deal with urgent cases as a priority,” Akoak said.

“However, there should still be time built into the community health centre schedule to ensure that non-emergency clients are able to receive health services on a timely basis.”