Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have more questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
So currently in Yellowknife we have four primary care teams. Each team is funded to include the full-time equivalent of three physicians and one nurse practitioner; however, I know we have struggled to keep that level of physician and NP staffing on every team.
So my first question is, for the Minister, on average, across the four teams, how many regular physicians and how many nurse practitioners do we actually have that live here and they work on staff? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have that number offhand so I would have to get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure if the Minister will have this either, but I know we're also bringing in a lot of non-resident locums to fill in shifts for our primary care physicians. So I am wondering if she has any estimate for once you include in the locums, are we filling up the full-time equivalent of three physicians on each of our primary care teams here in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently regular physician staffing average about approximately 1.4 full-time equivalent positions per team supplemented by locum coverage. So we can have, you know, another two locum physicians on any given day. There is one dedicated full-time equivalent position for locum coverage for same-day access across the program. And nurse practitioner ranges from point-8 to 1 based on certain accommodations with the full-time staff. And we continue recruitment to achieve full complement remains a priority. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okay, so it sounds like even with bringing in locums, we're still not managing to achieve the full-time equivalent of three physicians per team. And if we fund the health authority for that, can the Minister explain what is done with the extra money that's apparently not going towards those three regular full-time positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to be clear, we are funding the vacancies with locums. So to have the three -- the three physicians. And the funding that's not being used for the full-time physicians that -- because many of our physicians -- a majority of our physicians in the territory don't work full time. They work quarter time, half time. And so it makes -- you know, it's like a puzzle putting them all in. And some of them work general practitioners, some of them are pediatricians, some of them are emergency room doctors, some of them are obstetrics. So trying to do that and making sure all of the areas are complemented. And then everything else -- all the other funding goes to pay for locums to fill in all the other spaces and wherever they're needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
