Locum Opportunities
The Government of the Northwest Territories along with its 8 Health and Social Service Authorities (HSSA) are pleased to accommodate Canadian Physicians looking to perform locums within the territory. Each HSSA finalizes arrangements regarding timeframes, licensing and logistical matters.
To give a broad overview, the Northwest Territories (pop. 42 982) is dispersed over 1.14 million sq/km in 33 communities. Communities range from settlements of 75 people to the city of Yellowknife (pop. 19 424). More information can be found at by contacting physicians@gov.nt.ca
The Health Authorities:
The Beaufort-Delta HSSA (the most northern health region in Canada) serves Inuvik (pop. 3 521) and 7 outlying arctic communities. The Inuvik Regional Hospital is a modern, 50 bed accredited facility and offers acute, long-term, preventative and rehabilitative care, as well as elective and emergency surgery. Physicians regularly visit the communities and offer support to the community health nursing staff that provides primary care in the remote community health centres. Contact Inuvik_doctors@gov.nt.ca or http://polardoc.com
The Yellowknife HSSA provides community health, primary health care and social service programs to the people of Yellowknife, NDilo, Dettah, Lutsel K'e, and Fort Resolution including physician services to the Tlicho Community Services Agency. The “Urban” centre of the Northwest Territories; Yellowknife is home Stanton Territorial Hospital and 4 Family Medical Clinics and supports 29 Family Doctors. The specific make up of any doctor's practice can vary depending upon physician interests/skills and community need. Opportunities include visits to smaller northern communities, emergency room work, obstetrics, and clinic practice. Derek Orlaw is your contact. - www.yellowknife-physicians.ca
The Hay River HSSA administers a range of community health and social services, as well as acute care services to a number of communities. It supports a fully equipped community hospital that includes 23 inpatient, 8 long-term care and 15 nursing home beds and serves the communities of Hay River (located on the southern shore of Great Slave Lake), Enterprise, Kakisa and Ft. Providence. Erin Griffiths is your contact. www.hayriver.com
Fort Smith HSSA provides services within its modern health center for this community of 2500 and is the southernmost community in the Northwest Territories, lying on the Northwest Territories-Alberta border. Acute cases are stabilized at the health centre and medivaced to Yellowknife or Edmonton dependant on the severity. A nurse practitioner is on staff and includes a midwifery program and a hemo-dialysis unit. Kalina Hadziev is your contact. www.fortsmith.ca
Norman Wells is the main community in the Sahtu HSSA with 4 other communities visited, on a rotational basis. "The Wells" and the 4 other communities all are fly-in only with the exception of a few months of the year when an ice road connects this region to Fort Simpson and the south. Kim Rose is your contact. www.shssa.org
Fort Simpson is the largest community in the Dehcho HSSA and serves as the administrative headquarters for the Authority. The health centre is small with two acute care rooms and five clinic rooms. Social Services and a long-term care facility are attached to the health centre. Two physicians serve the community sharing call duties and board a Cessna 206 to service the fly-in communities of Nahanni Butte, Wrigley, Trout Lake and Fort Liard on a weekly basis. Hazel Isaiah is your contact. www.fortsimpson.com
On the following pages, please find a map outlining the individual Health and Social Service Authorities and communities, and the locum fee schedule. Also included is a summary of the contract available to GPs who wish to seek fulltime practice in the Northwest Territories.
The Locum Fee schedule is based on a classification scale as outlined below:
- Level B – Dehcho HSSA /Sahtu HSSA
- Level C - Hay River HSSA /Fort Smith HSSA
- Level D - Beaufort-Delta HSSA
- Level E - Yellowknife HSSA