The Yukon’s opposition parties are wondering why a walk-in clinic hasn’t been established in Whitehorse yet.

A clinic was supposed to have been in operation last spring.

“For over a year, the NDP has asked this government to open a public walk-in clinic so that Yukoners can get the health care they need, but instead of opening a public walk-in clinic, the minister gave some start-up money to a private practice,” Annie Blake, the NDP MLA for Vuntut Gwitchin, said during Tuesday’s question period in the legislature.

“This money was supposed to make it all better by spring of this year; it didn’t. There are still thousands of Yukoners on the wait-list and there is still no walk-in clinic.

“It is time for government to stop relying on private businesses to fill critical gaps in our health care system,” Blake said.

“When will this government open a publicly funded and operated walk-in clinic?”

Health and Social Services Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said the government “clearly supports walk-in clinic services, but as mentioned in the preamble to the question, these are, of course, privately run clinics at the moment.

“We have been working diligently with physicians and health care professionals in the last number of months to determine how we could best provide these types of services to Yukoners.”

Medical professionals, doctors and family practices are private businesses, McPhee noted.

“Short of the suggestion that a government-run Yukon clinic is not supported by our government — but getting services like this for Yukoners absolutely is.

“We remain committed to continuing to transform Yukon’s health care system to a more holistic, collaborative, and people-centred system that will better meet the needs of Yukoners.”

She referenced Putting People First, the government’s review of health and social programs and services and how to improve them.

Blake resplied, “The minister didn’t just promise a walk-in clinic; she also said that a bilingual polyclinic would be open sometime this year.

“This clinic is supposed to open in less than three months, but Yukoners still have so many questions. How many doctors, nurses, dietitians, counsellors, and other health professionals have been recruited? When will the support staff be hired?” Blake asked.

“When will the space be ready? Will this clinic also have walk-in services? There is no public information available, and Yukoners are starting to worry that this promise is going to be the same as the walk-in clinic.”

McPhee responded, “We are committed to improving the care of our Yukon’s francophone population, expanding access to the primary health care services for Yukoners through the Constellation health centre.

“We continue to make progress toward opening the new bilingual health centre in Whitehorse.”

She said the government expects it to be ready late this year or early in the spring of 2023.

“The Constellation health centre will be the first primary health care clinic of its kind in the Yukon and will serve as a model of care to build upon in the future.”

But Blake countered, “Because of this government’s inaction, Yukoners will continue to face health care shortages for years to come.

“Now is the time to plan for our future. From pharmacy to nutrition, nursing and medical school to social work, there are many youth across the Yukon who want to become health care workers but face financial barriers.”

The government could provide funding tied to practising in the Yukon for five years after graduation, Blake suggested.

“Will the government commit to funding all health care-related studies to address the long-term health care shortage?”

McPhee replied, “Recruitment is definitely a challenge nationally and internationally. It’s certainly one of the fallouts from the pandemic, but we are absolutely committed to transforming the health care system, implementing Putting People First, and dealing with all of the things that are mentioned in the question ....”

After question period, Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers asked why the walk-in clinic has been delayed from the spring 2022 target.

“That timeline has, of course, been badly missed. And as well, the timelines for bilingual health centre, that the minister previously indicated would be open this year and suggested that we would likely be seeing that by now, the minister today in question period modified the timelines to suggest it might not be open until early spring,” Cathers said.

“So the long and the short of it is, again, we continue to see this government fumbling on health care, which is vitally important to the well-being and the health of Yukoners.”

His party supports the idea of a walk-in clinic, he added.

“We’re not convinced that being publicly run was the only option. But we certainly would support that versus no action at all.”

He was asked what alternatives the government should consider besides a walk-in clinic.

Cathers replied, “Any action that results in an increase in the availability of healthcare services to Yukoners is something that we’re happy to see. But we’re not convinced the way that the government is going about it is the most cost-effective, or the only way to approach it.”

Cathers was then asked what innovation would look like to the Yukon Party.

“The point I’m making is it doesn’t necessarily have to be only delivered by government ... according to the government, the numbers that the minister has cited herself, over one fifth of Yukoners do not have access to a family doctor.

“And in contrast, we’ve seen the government be quick to spend $2.7 million on fixing a parking lot (at the Jim Smith Building), while they’ve been very, very slow to act on helping Yukoners who don’t have a doctor, get a doctor,” Cathers said.

The Yukon Party is also calling for a physician recruitment position to be re-created in the Department of Health and Social Services.

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen the current Liberal government show (it) places such a low priority on this issue that when that position became vacant, they didn’t fill it,” said Cathers.

“If government isn’t trying to recruit physicians, and going out there and making an effort, it should not be surprising to see that the Yukon has literally the worst performance in the country in terms of the last five years.

“We are the only jurisdiction that the patient-to-physician ratio got worse; every other province, every other territory, improved their physician to patient ratio.”

Updated incentives for doctors to come to the territory should be implemented, he added, noting that a former Yukon Party government implemented a range of incentives in 2006, when he was the health minister.

Blake told reporters, “It sounds like the government is going to shift towards a publicly funded walk-in clinic. But I don’t know enough information on that.”

NDP Leader Kate White said McPhee “actually gave $240,000 to a private business in the territory to open a walk-in clinic and it never happened. So that would be the $240,000 question.”

White was asked if the money has actually been paid out, to which she replied “To the best of our knowledge, yes.”

Blake’s vision of a public walk-in clinic includes a wrap-around approach – “physicians being hired and nurses, registered nurses, LPNs, social workers, counsellors to provide accessible services.”

It was pointed out that an update on staffing for a clinic wasn’t provided by McPhee.

“With what I understand right now, I feel like we’re operating in crisis mode,” said Blake.

White said she and her colleagues met with Dr. Katherine Smart, a local physician and the former president of the Canadian Medical Association.

“She said there’s a real opportunity right now to start hiring physicians who want to work in a public clinic. So not disrupting the status quo right now, but actually starting with people who are interested in working in collaboration, people who are interested in finding that work-life balance,” White said.

“And so when Annie talks about this vision of having these wrap-around services, we really are talking about people who are looking for both that balance but also to follow what their professional calling is.”