INUVIK (August 21, 2026) – The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) is announcing the extension of the temporary suspension of labour and delivery services at the Inuvik Regional Hospital (IRH) due to a shortage of required physician and nursing staff. This service reduction is expected to last through August 30, 2026.

The following measures will be implemented during this period:

• Patients who were planning to give birth in Inuvik and who are 36 weeks or further along in their pregnancy have been contacted and advised to transfer their care to Stanton Territorial Hospital (STH) in Yellowknife.
• Pre-and-post natal assessments and care will continue at IRH.
• Anyone in Inuvik who is pregnant and requires assessment or who goes into labour during this time is asked to please present to the IRH emergency department.

NTHSSA staff continue to work diligently behind the scenes to ensure all staffing needs are met. This diversion of care is due to limited availability of specialty physicians and nurses during this period.

The NTHSSA understands that any service level reduction may cause concern for residents. The goal remains to ensure that safe staffing levels are achieved across all programs in order to avoid service level reductions.

If you are a qualified nurse or a physician with an interest in working in the NWT, please visit www.gov.nt.ca/careers/ or www.practicenwt.ca/en/hss-careers.

All anticipated impacted patients have been contacted. If you are approaching your delivery date and have questions or need more information, please call Inuvik Primary Care at (867) 678-8041.

The NTHSSA will inform the public if this information changes or if more information becomes available.

For media requests, please contact:

NTHSSA Communications
nthssacomms@gov.nt.ca