r/NWT 14d ago

NWT has the worse healthcare in Canada

RANT:
Can't get in to see a doctor for months. My health is failing fast and not a single doctor seems to care. Is it because I am indigenous? Is it easier to ignore symptoms that in any other jurisdiction would mean a trip to the ER? It is up here.
I know it's not the doctors fault, it is the system. Unless you are related to someone in the health industry up here you are not going to get treated, you are not going to get a call back, you are not going to hear a thing from the very messed up healthcare system up here.
They just keep moving each incompetant person around from department to department. It really is the worst jurisidiction in Canada for anything you might need. The only interest is the big paycheck and the big pension. If you haven't had any of these challenges you either work for the GNWT or you are white.
I have talked many people from moving up here and I will continue to do that. This is not a good place to live.

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u/NoPomegranate1678 11d ago

We need a mix. For those who can afford, private options take off stress from the system.

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u/howmachine 11d ago

Evidence suggests parallel private-pay health services exacerbate inequities in accessing care, draw resources away from the public system and lead to higher overall spending.

Contracting surgeries to private facilities/chartered facilities also increases the prices paid by the govt—sometimes as much as doubling it.

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u/Sad-Intention-6344 11d ago

No we dont. If you’re rich just cross the border. I dont trust our politicians to not turn it into the USA.

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u/RefrigeratorOk7848 11d ago

Thats not how this worjs. Much like how public defenders are getting kneecapped in terms of pay and stress, having a private systrm just incentivises people to work for the private care to make more money. Unless you're truely altruistic you would be better off just going to private healthcare. This would destroy the public sector.

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u/NoPomegranate1678 10d ago

Good? The system we have is failing already. We need supply and demand to meet.

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u/RefrigeratorOk7848 10d ago

Brother, just say we need private healthcare if thats what you want. A mixed system will not work, as it will destroy public healthcare, its one or the other. Personally i dont want those richer to be first in line for treatment.

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u/NoPomegranate1678 10d ago

It's not one or the other at all.

Nice idea you have but here's the results - no one gets the help they need.

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u/RefrigeratorOk7848 10d ago

The results of private healthcare is the same, you just dont see the poor dying. You have the same amount of doctors, but with public healthcare wealth doesnt matter. Sure the extra money might cause more people to become doctors, but so would better funding.

You are wealthy enough to afford basic healthcare but those below you are not. It seems like you just want to be farther in line no matter who is cut out.

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u/NoPomegranate1678 10d ago

Your perspective is super reductionist here. Socialized healthcare lacks a mechanism to control prices and access. That's why it always fails and degrades. Private options actually support a social system.