Yukon Party Concerned with Lack of Progress on Healthcare Negotiations

WHITEHORSE – The Yukon Party Official Opposition is expressing serious concern about the Liberal government’s ongoing mishandling of our health care system and lack of attention to negotiations with the Yukon Medical Association (YMA). According to a recent news release from the YMA, the Liberal Government has been “slow to respond” to their constructive efforts to find solutions, and that their proposals have been met with “delays and limited engagement.” The release specifically targets newly appointed Premier Mike Pemberton and calls on him to break from the current pattern to change course.

The Yukon Party Official Opposition was also dismayed to see the updated statistics from the YMA about the current state of what the YMA correctly calls a “deepening health care crisis.” According to the YMA, there are now more than 10,000 Yukoners without regular access to primary care.

“The Yukon Party has been proposing solutions to help address the health care crisis, but they have repeatedly fallen on deaf ears with the Minister of Health and her colleagues,” said Yukon Party Health Critic, Brad Cathers. “It seems unlikely that Premier Pemberton will change course, or step in to get negotiations that have been so mishandled by the Minister on track towards an agreement. Just two weeks ago, Premier Pemberton expressed his support for, and confidence in, Minister McPhee, despite these glaring problems.”

In past sittings of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, the Yukon Party Official Opposition has repeatedly proposed solutions that would increase access to primary care, expand the capacity of our hospitals, and improve the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals, including doctors.

Those solutions include:

• Cutting red tape for doctors so that they can focus on patients instead of paperwork;
• Changing the payment structure for doctors to ensure they are paid in a timely manner;
• Launching a campaign targeted at US-trained doctors who may be interested in moving to Canada;
• Developing a Health Human Resources Strategy that includes bursaries and other financial incentives for health professionals to come to the Yukon;
• Streamlining licensing requirements to allow foreign-trained health professionals from countries with similarly high standards of education to practice in the Yukon more easily.
• Increasing funding for Yukon Hospitals.
• Expanding the surgical services capacity of Whitehorse General Hospital and adding more space for patient beds.

Despite this, there has been little progress on any of these suggestions from the current government.

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