Pages 568-574 in S. Chatwood, P. Orr and Tiina Ikaheimo, eds. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, Canada, July 11-16, 2009. Securing the IPY Legacy: from Research to Action. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2010; 69 (Suppl 7).
Canadian Institute for Health Information, Ottawa, Canada
Source
Pages 568-574 in S. Chatwood, P. Orr and Tiina Ikaheimo, eds. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, Canada, July 11-16, 2009. Securing the IPY Legacy: from Research to Action. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2010; 69 (Suppl 7).
Objectives: This paper examines the supply and distribution of physicians, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and pharmacists employed in Canada's northern territories.
Methods: To examine the distribution of professionals employed in northern Canada in 2007, geographical indicators for the health care workforce were linked to current Canadian census subdivisions. Administrative data was analysed from four Canadian Institute for Health Information databases: the Nursing Database, Scott's Medical Database, the Pharmacist Database and the National Physician Database. Information was also pulled from the 2005 national Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses and the 2007 National Physician Survey.
Results: The distribution of physicians, regulated nurses and pharmacists varied in Canada's northern territories, with clustering in cities evident for each profession in a varying degree. The place of work of nurses and pharmacists varied when comparing the northern cities to the rest of the territories. A short analysis of fee-for-service physician data illustrated that consultations and visits are a higher proportion of services in the territories than in the rest of Canada. Survey data indicated a strong degree of satisfaction by the workforce.
Conclusions: While the supply and distribution of selected health professionals is informative, there is a need for more information to better understand the working of the health care system in northern Canada. Data on Aboriginal health human resources, cultural/Indigenous healing practices and primary health care would provide greater context to understand the practice of health professionals in Canada's northern territories.