(Inuvik, August 6, 2026) – The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services (NTHSSA) is announcing a temporary service suspension of labour and delivery services at the Inuvik Regional Hospital (IRH) due to a shortage of required physician staff. This service reduction will begin on August 15th and is expected to last through August 23rd. There is a possibility of extension.

During this period, the following measures will be implemented:

• Patients who were planning to give birth in Inuvik and who are 36 weeks or further along in their pregnancy during this timeframe have been contacted and recommended 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 work diligently behind the scenes to ensure all staffing needs are met. This diversion of care is due to limited availability of specialty physicians during this period.

The NTHSSA understands that any service level reduction may cause concern for residents. Across the NTHSSA, the goal remains to ensure safe staffing levels in 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.

If this information changes or more information becomes available, the NTHSSA will provide updates.

For media requests, please contact:

NTHSSA Communications
nthssacomms@gov.nt.ca