Ulukhaktok residents sick of long waits to see doctors
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 | 11:47 AM CT
CBC News
Residents in the remote Arctic hamlet of Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., are demanding more time with doctors who have to travel to the community to see patients.
Physicians from Inuvik are scheduled to fly into Ulukhaktok, previously known as Holman, every five weeks to see patients.
The hamlet of Ulukhaktok was known as Holman until 2006. (CBC)The community of 400 is located on the west coast of Victoria Island, about 670 kilometres northeast of Inuvik and 930 kilometres north of Yellowknife.
While residents there are used to waiting that long to see a doctor, there are worries that some ill patients can't get appointments when the doctors are in the community.
"When the doctor comes in, they're booked up pretty fast. Sometimes they have to wait until the next time they come in," Melanie Kimiksana, acting manager of the Ulukhaktok Community Corp., told CBC News on Tuesday.
Residents said that earlier this year, a shortage of doctors led to people waiting 10 weeks for an appointment. Territorial government officials said doctors have since been meeting their five-week schedule.
Some residents also said doctors have told them that new northern flight schedules which add to travel time have shaved an entire day off the physicians' three-and-a-half-day visit.
"It's just hard. Especially if they need to do medical travel and they need to see the doctor first," Kimiksana said. "If they can't see the doctor, they'll have to wait a couple months to go out of town."
Uluhaktok Mayor Peter Malgokak expressed his frustration over the long doctor waits in a recent letter to the Department of Health, calling for more frequent doctors' visits.
Nunakput MLA Jackie Jacobson raised the issue in the legislative assembly on June 3, saying the health of some elders is suffering as a result of the lengthy wait times.
"I'm getting kind of frustrated with the health of my elders in Ulukhaktok. They haven't seen a doctor since January of this year," Jacobson told the legislature at the time.
But deputy health minister Gregory Cummings said the department has no plans to boost the number of doctors' visits to remote N.W.T. communities.
"From our consultations with physicians who have been visiting those communities, approximately every five weeks is sufficient to be able to see the number of patients who are referred by the community health nurses," Cummings said.
Cummings said a shortage of doctors has meant that on rare occasions, regular visits to communities are missed.
The department is trying to fill four positions for doctors in the Beaufort Delta, he added.
