Hospital rolls out ‘shift-bidding’ system to staff emergency room

The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority says it has rolled out a new, temporary “shift-bidding” system for summer staffing at Stanton Territorial Hospital’s emergency department.

The health authority said in a Monday news release the new system aims to attract and recruit locum physicians for high demand periods between July 15 and September 2. It said that is a peak period for staffing needs at Yellowknife’s hospital’s emergency room as many staff physicians request time off and locums are scheduled to work in other areas.

The health authority said the shift-bidding system will offer greater flexibility and enhanced compensation for locum physicians who choose to work those “critical” summer shifts.

Territorial medical director Dr Claudia Craft said the initiative was developed in response to feedback from healthcare providers.

“We’ve listened closely to the needs of our healthcare professionals and continue to hear about the importance of competitive compensation for locums while ensuring flexibility for our staff physicians, particularly during the summer months,” she stated.

“It’s also about ensuring that those working are not burdened with long hours or excessive back-to-back shifts. We want our [emergency department] to continue to be a place of work that is attractive to physicians.”

While the press release did not explain how the shift-bidding system will work, Kraft told the CBC the health authority had shared a callout with existing and potential locum physicians to submit their bid for compensation, asking what it would take for them to work certain shifts. 

“This is really because we know there are several of our locum physicians who’ve indicated that they’d like to be able to negotiate,” Kraft told the broadcaster.

The new initiative is one of several contingency plans the health authority is implementing to keep the emergency department at the hospital open amid staff shortages.

Other approaches the health authority said it has considered include staffing with longer 12-hour physician shifts, using family physicians or emergency doctors who normally work in Inuvik or Hay River, redeploying staff from other health services, and recalling staff on leave.

The Union of Northern Workers, NWT Medical Association and the College and Association of Nurses of the NWT and Nunavut have criticized potential plans to have physicians appear remotely in the emergency room to treat patients with the help of nurses. The health authority has said that is just one option it is considering as part of contingency planning.

Correction: July 8, 2025 – 11:05 MT. A quote originally cited in this report from a CBC article used the term “local physicians.” In fact, Dr Claudia Kraft said she had said “locum physicians.”