Amount and cost of medical travel on the rise in the N.W.T.

The amount of medical travel and its associated costs are increasing in the N.W.T., according to a new report from the territorial government. 

The annual report on medical travel services, released last week, outlines that there were over 23,000 medical travel cases in the territory in 2024/25, costing more than $35 million. 

That was an increase of nearly 6,000 cases since 2022, and another $7 million.

The report also indicates that medical travel for dental care is on a steady rise. 

Over half of these dental visits came from the Beaufort-Delta region, with most of those patients going to Yellowknife for treatment instead of outside of the territory. 

CBC News requested an interview with the Department of Health and Social Services, but it did not make anyone available before deadline.

Regional staff vacancies is one reason the report points to for the increase in medical travel. Services in Inuvik are a notable example. 

Residents in Inuvik lost access to a dental clinic in their community when the Western Arctic Dental Group, which had served thousands of patients within the Beaufort-Delta region, closed down two years ago.

Denny Rodgers, the MLA for Inuvik Boot Lake, said that having a dental clinic in Inuvik is a necessity. He said that plans are currently in the works for a new dental clinic to come to the region, likely in the summer. 

“That will take a lot of stress off medical travel if again, you can get a cleaning or basic dental done in Inuvik. It will be huge.” 

While the need for easily-accessible services for community members is important, Rodgers said another concern lies in how long it takes to notify a patient of their medical travel. 

“A lot of times folks don’t have their travel confirmation until the day before and sometimes even the morning,” Rodgers said. “That adds an additional stress on your life.”

Speaking to reporters last week when the territorial budget was tabled, the territory’s finance minister acknowledged that medical travel is a significant issue for the government “because it is not a good client experience.”

“It makes it so hard on the patients, which can then drive other health-care costs if they’re actually not able to heal in as an efficient or as positive a way as possible,” said Minister Caroline Wawzonek.

As part of its proposed budget this year, the N.W.T. government would allocate close to $500,000 for a two-year pilot project that would create three nurse case manager positions. It aims to reduce “avoidable medical travel costs through dedicated cost management,” according to a fiscal review from the government.

Rodgers is hopeful that these positions will spark change within the process. 

“Obviously there’s some significant issues around medical travel,” Rodgers said. “The hiring of [three] positions to have nurse case managers to coordinate appointments will help … I think that will certainly be a benefit.”