NWT health bosses say the idea of using “virtual” physicians in Yellowknife’s emergency room is only one option and not a finalized plan.
Three groups representing healthcare workers issued a statement on Thursday opposing the concept of a physician appearing by video link and treating patients with the help of nurses. They said having a physician physically in Stanton Territorial Hospital’s emergency room was “non-negotiable.”
Two physicians who spoke with Cabin Radio said they had been informed by managers that, in one doctor’s words, Stanton would “have a virtual ER physician from somewhere else triage and initiate care for patients coming to the department” on days when nobody could be found to staff the emergency room in person.
In a Friday written response, the NWT’s health authority – which declined an interview request – characterized the “virtual physician” idea as “draft internal information about contingency planning” that had not been finalized.
“While we understand that there is a high level of interest in our work, it’s unfortunate that preliminary drafts of material were made public before it was ready to be shared more broadly,” the health authority stated. “This only causes confusion and can be misleading to the public.”
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Virtual physicians are not an entirely new concept in Canada. Emergency rooms in some small communities in the south already keep their doors open during staff shortages by having a physician dial in from elsewhere. Beyond emergency rooms, the NWT has made use of virtual physicians in settings like family medicine for smaller communities.
But workers’ groups and physicians this week said Yellowknife’s Stanton Territorial Hospital, which is the central emergency room for the whole Northwest Territories and parts of Nunavut, was too large a facility to rely on that approach without endangering patients.
“While virtual care is one option the NTHSSA is exploring to support contingency planning, it’s only one of several ideas under consideration and would never be viewed as a replacement for in-person care, but rather a contingency approach that could be used in the event of a severe shortage scenario,” the health authority stated.
The authority compared the idea of a virtual physician to the kind of contingency planning it would undertake for “any other type of unusual scenario” such as mass casualty events or wildfire evacuations.
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Solutions both small and “complex” are being studied to provide staffing relief, the health authority stated, adding: “As these ideas evolve and become ready for broader implementation, we will share them with the public and media.”
The health authority did not respond to questions from Cabin Radio about the number of days this summer on which emergency room shifts remain unfilled. Doctors have suggested at least six days in July and August currently pose a scheduling problem.
Nor did the authority answer questions about a move from eight-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts to ensure gaps in that schedule are filled. One doctor said physicians in the emergency room have now moved to 12-hour shifts in some circumstances, which some staff have said is too large a burden to place on one worker in such a key role.
