Whitehorse General Hospital

Description

About Us
The Whitehorse General Hospital WGH is the primary acute care facility in the Yukon The hospital services the City of Whitehorse and all communities within the Yukon offering acute care 24 hours a day seven days a week

A highly respected First Nations Health Program ensures that aboriginal peoples will receive care appropriate to their culture and traditions WGH works closely with a variety of communitybased health care organizations to support patient care

The hospital is equipped with a full Laboratory Medical Imaging Centre and a Therapies Centre which provide services to both the hospital and community

History

History
In order to understand the culture and the future direction of the YHC it is important to know its history The YHC was established in 1989 by the Yukon Hospital Act An interim Board of Trustees was appointed at that time Prior to this date the organization was known as the Whitehorse General Hospital WGH The hospitals long history began in the Yukon in 1902 when an eight to 10 bed building was erected

Yukon Archives Ernest Brown fonds 892

This grew to a 30 bed hospital during World War I In 1943 another wing of 10 beds was added Another 20 bed wing was added in 1949 and a final wing for operating and case rooms was completed in 1951 In 1943 the US Army also built a 300 bed hospital However the need for beds gradually lessened and the building was used by other military departments In 1959 the past hospital was built to replace the buildings downtown It was owned and managed by National Health and Welfare Medical Services Branch Many of the decisions were made in Ottawa

Yukon Archives Bud and Jeanne Connolly Harbottle fonds 6187

In 1990 the YHC and its Board were created in preparation for the First Phase Transfer Agreement for health services between the Yukon Territorial Government and the Federal Government The YHC Yukon Territorial Government YTG and the Council of Yukon Indians CYI now known as Council of Yukon First Nations CYFN entered into an agreement to create a First Nations Health Committee of the Board of Trustees This was to ensure that any changes to programs offered by the Corporation would support selfgovernment agreements for Yukon First Nations The Director of First Nations Health Programs was appointed to assume responsibility for the management of the program at the WGH On April 1 1993 the WGH operations were officially transferred to the YHC Construction started on the current building in 1994 In the winter of 19961997 hospital departments started relocating Parts of the old hospital were totally renovated and the final moves were completed in the fall of 1997

Yukon Archives Rod MacDougall fonds 8957 39

Originally Health Canada Medical Services Branch had agreed to transfer all Universal Health Programs to the YTG in two phases Phase I the Whitehorse General Hospital in 1993 and Phase 2 in 1996 YTG established the YHC as the principal delivery agent for Phase 1 programs Phase 2 included Community Nursing Stations Cottage Hospitals Dental Health Mental Health Public Health CDU Clinics and Continuing Care The Phase 2 transfer to YHC never occurred due to a change in government and the new governments decision that the transfer would be too great a change and the responsibilities too onerous for the YHC At present the YHCs responsibilities are limited to the WGH

The WGH currently employs over 350 staff and has 49 inpatient beds 10 bassinets for newborns and 10 surgical day care beds an emergency department and OR suites The hospital is equipped with a full range of medical imaging services CT scanning digital mammography and ultrasound WGH also offers laboratory services a therapies department as well as a broad range of specialists both medical and surgical