Yukon Hospitals in Crisis Mode as Liberal Government Fails to Retain Doctors

WHITEHORSE – The Yukon Party Official Opposition is alarmed by recent announcements from doctors who are closing practices and giving up on working in the Yukon due to the crisis in the territory’s health care system. This has left a growing crisis in our hospitals, which is being made worse by the territorial Liberal government’s continued lack of action.

According to the Yukon Medical Association (YMA), four family medical practices have closed in the territory in the past 18 months. A surgeon recently left due to ‘systemic underfunding’ of surgical services. In 2024, the government had a zero-for-153 record of convincing visiting doctors to stay in the territory.

“The YMA’s locum recruitment program has been working hard to fill gaps in physician coverage and should be applauded for their success at recruiting over 150 doctors to come to the Yukon,” said Health and Social Services Critic Brad Cathers. “Once those doctors are here, it is the government’s job to convince them the Yukon is an attractive place to work and to make their home. None of those doctors who visited last year decided to move here permanently and become a part of the Yukon’s health care system.”

A recent letter from doctors at the Whitehorse Hospital to the Minister of Health stated, ‘Urgent solutions are needed to rectify this crisis.’ The letter, dated February 17, 2025, brought the issue to the minister and emphasized, ‘Whitehorse does not have enough local physicians to provide ER and inpatient care.’

“Doctors have been sounding the alarm bell, but their calls for urgent help continue to fall on deaf ears with the territorial Liberal government and their NDP partners,” added Cathers. “153 doctors came to the Yukon to work and then left. What, if anything, did the government do to encourage those doctors to make the Yukon their home? How does the government plan to address the crisis in our hospitals?”

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Contact:
Tim Kucharuk
Media Director
(867) 689-7874