A new nurse practitioner is joining the health care team providing services to the communities of Carmacks and Old Crow.
The nurse practitioner will supplement the existing nursing and visiting physician services at both community health centres. They will spend alternate weeks in each community, providing services from Monday through Thursday and will begin work in Old Crow on September 13, 2021.
Nurse practitioners are advanced-practice primary health care providers that offer direct clinical and comprehensive care. They are authorized to diagnose diseases, disorders, injuries or conditions; supply, prescribe, administer and monitor the effectiveness of drugs and treatments; order and interpret lab and diagnostic tests; and perform procedures within their legislated scope of practice.
The Government of Yukon will be meeting with officials from the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation governments this month to continue discussions about how this position can be implemented into existing community health services. Health and Social Services staff will also seek input from community residents.
It is important that Yukoners have access to the health and social services they need. Nurse practitioners provide a level of care that is a bridge between rural nurses and visiting doctors. By adding this position and expanding health services in these communities, we will be able to reduce wait times and build more collaborative healthcare for Yukoners in both Carmacks and Old Crow.
Minister of Health and Social Services Tracy-Anne McPhee
The addition of a nurse practitioner, even on a part-time basis, will dramatically alter the level of care in Old Crow, where our Elders are the heart and soul of our community. Enhanced health care will reassure Elders and everyone else in Old Crow that quality of life does not have to be suspended until the next doctor’s visit.
Vuntut Gwitchin Government Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm
There are currently seven nurse practitioners working in the Yukon. Enhancing the Yukon’s health and social system by adding more nurse practitioners across the territory was a recommendation put forward in the Putting People First report.
In June 2019 the community health centres in Mayo and Pelly Crossing became the first to be staffed by a nurse practitioner.
In 2012, the Yukon passed legislation to enable licensing of nurse practitioners in the territory. There are currently seven nurse practitioners working in the Yukon.
Renée Francoeur
Cabinet Communications
867-334-9194
renee.francoeur@yukon.ca
Michael Edwards
Communications, Health and Social Services
867-667-8539
michael.edwards@yukon.ca