Rheumatology services are anticipated to return to the NWT this summer, nearly four years after patients were told they’d have to travel to Alberta instead.
According to the NWT’s health authority, rheumatological services are currently available to residents through a specialist in Alberta, which they can access either in person or virtually.
By email, the health authority confirmed to Cabin Radio that it “recently had approval from the Department of Health and Social Services to develop a new program with Alberta Health Services – the Comprehensive Care in Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases (C-CARD) Program – which will provide in-Territory Rheumatology Services for residents.”
A health authority spokesperson said the territory is now awaiting final approval from Alberta Health Services and anticipates the program will start in the summer of 2026. The health authority expects the program to eliminate the need to travel to Alberta for most patients.
The spokesperson wasn’t able to answer further questions about the new program but said they would have more information “closer to the summer.”
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Rheumatology is the branch of medicine that deals with inflammation of joints, muscles, bones and internal organs, including many types of arthritis.
Rheumatological services were last available at Yellowknife’s Stanton Territorial Hospital in 2022.
According to the health authority, these services were previously delivered under a fee-for-service arrangement with a long-serving rheumatologist who was “willing and able” to visit the NWT.
When that person retired in 2018, rheumatological services continued after that on an ad-hoc basis with rheumatologists from Edmonton. The health authority suspended all rheumatological services in December 2022 due to “inadequate continuity of care to meet clinical standards.”
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According to internal correspondence at the NWT health authority seen by Cabin Radio, that closure affected almost 400 people at the time. They were referred to Alberta and forced to rely on Edmonton for treatment.
In 2025, experts from the University of Alberta – including rheumatologist Steven Katz, who previously provided rheumatology services in Yellowknife as a visiting specialist – published a study on rheumatological disease demographics in the Northwest Territories.
The study identified 425 patients from the NWT who had been referred to Alberta for care.
Its authors found that on average, patients waited 1.9 years from their last rheumatology visit. Twenty percent of patients either cancelled or were no-shows to their appointment.
“In addition to a nearly 2-year wait time for established patients, this highlights issues in care for both new and established diseases,” the study noted.
“This may disproportionally impact Indigenous and female patients, but whether this is due to a flawed referral process or travel limitations requires further exploration.”
