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Work Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians (2023-24 to 2025-26)

Term: April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2026

Funding: $22.08 million for improving health care, $2.1 million for mental health, substance use, and addictions services.

Objectives

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has signed a bilateral agreement with the Government of Canada to work together to improve health care for Canadians. The key objectives of the federal investment are:

1. Timely access to high-quality family health services, including in rural and remote areas.
2. A sustainable, efficient, and resilient health workforce that provides Canadians timely access to high-quality, effective, and safe health services.
3. Access to timely, equitable, and quality mental health, substance use, and addictions services to support Canadians' well-being.
4. Access to a patient’s own electronic health information that is shared between the health professionals they consult to improve safety and quality of care, and which informs Canadians on how the system is doing.

The GNWT will focus on the following shared health priorities:

• expanding access to family health services, including in rural and remote areas;
• supporting our health workers and reducing backlogs; and
• improving access to quality mental health, substance use, and addiction services.

Investment in Family Health Services

Initiative #1 - Territorial Public Health Transformation

The GNWT will establish a Territorial Public Health Unit (TPHU) with federal funding supporting approximately 22 positions across the NWT. The establishment of the TPHU will enhance operational oversight, increase public health regional capacity, and improve equitable access to services. By working with integrated primary care teams, the TPHU seeks to minimize service duplication, improve health outcomes, and provide effective and timely client care. The strengthened public health capacity is expected to reduce hospital admissions, particularly ambulatory sensitive ones, and enhance outcomes and services in primary care settings.

Health Workers and Backlogs

Initiative #2 - NWT HSS System Human Resources Plan

The NWT HSS System Human Resources (HR) Plan, released on June 3, 2022, represents a collaborative approach to strategic human resource planning. It addresses medium and long-term human resource needs, challenges impacting recruitment and retention, and sets six strategic goals. The federal investment will support ongoing initiatives, including the Family Medicine Residency Program, system-wide training and compliance tracking, cultural safety and anti- racism training, and employee engagement for retention.

Mental Health and Substance Use

Initiative #3 - Territorial Addictions Medicine Program

A Territorial Addictions Medicine Team will be established to enhance coordination and delivery of shared care for the treatment of Opioid Use Disorder, alcohol withdrawal, and complex polysubstance use. Over three years, 24 positions will be added, including clinical staff with specializations in addictions. This initiative will establish inpatient Medical Detox programming, community-based withdrawal management, and comprehensive outpatient withdrawal management capacity, supported by telehealth and virtual care services.

Initiative #4 - Culturally Appropriate Mental Wellness and Suicide Prevention Programming

This initiative, continued from the previous funding agreement, supports three positions responsible for administering Community Suicide Prevention and Community Wellness and Addictions Recovery Funds. Funding will enhance options for community-based prevention initiatives, and training to improve the implementation of the Suicide Risk Assessment tool. Additionally, the funding facilitates the oversight and activation of the Territorial Crisis Response Network and supports the implementation of a Territorial Community of Practice in collaboration with Indigenous Governments/organizations.

Common indicators to improve health care for Canadians

In addition to reporting on progress the GNWT is making on territory-specific activities funded through the Working Together Agreement, the GNWT’s progress on common national indicators is presented below. The federal government, provinces and territories have agreed to use a suite of common indicators to compare their progress in four priority areas.

Under the Working Together Agreement, the Government of the Northwest Territories will focus on three priority areas and report annually on common indicators that measure:

1. Expanding family health services and improving access to primary health care
2. Increasing the supply of the health workforce and decreasing wait times for surgeries
3. Improving access to mental health and substance use services

Northwest Territories’ results on the common indicators are presented below. The results reflect the current state of the three health priorities in the Northwest Territories.

Related Links

• Canada-Northwest Territories Agreement to Work Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians (2023-24 to 2025-26)