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Act Now - The Report of the WCB Legislative Review Panel to the

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3.13 Environmental Change<strong>The</strong> <strong>Act</strong>s have not been revised <strong>to</strong> recognize changes in <strong>the</strong> workers’ compensationenvironment, particularly those related <strong>to</strong> health care.3.13.1 Health Care Definitions<strong>The</strong> NWT/Nunavut health care system is composed <strong>of</strong> many health care providers, suchas physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, specialized <strong>the</strong>rapists, etc. practising inhospitals and community health centres. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Act</strong>s define “physician” in a manner thatincludes a person skilled and licensed by law in <strong>the</strong> art <strong>of</strong> healing. <strong>The</strong>re are many o<strong>the</strong>rlicensed health care providers who may be involved in <strong>the</strong> treatment and care <strong>of</strong> injuredworkers, including those who are recognized in <strong>the</strong> practice <strong>of</strong> traditional medicine.<strong>The</strong> <strong>Act</strong>s refer specifically <strong>to</strong> hospitals but do not define or refer <strong>to</strong> any o<strong>the</strong>r institutionssuch as community health centres.O<strong>the</strong>r jurisdictions define health care pr<strong>of</strong>essionals more broadly. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Panel</strong> foundSaskatchewan’s definition most helpful. It is not limiting in that it includes any personwho is registered or licensed <strong>to</strong> practice <strong>the</strong> healing arts. In <strong>the</strong> NWT/Nunavut, mos<strong>the</strong>alth care pr<strong>of</strong>essionals must be licensed by or registered with a terri<strong>to</strong>rial or nationalpr<strong>of</strong>essional body. This definition would not include those practising traditionalmedicine.<strong>The</strong> <strong>Panel</strong> reviewed <strong>the</strong> <strong>Act</strong>s and found that many Sections require a physician <strong>to</strong> dosomething that may be done by ano<strong>the</strong>r health care pr<strong>of</strong>essional or require admittance <strong>to</strong>hospital ra<strong>the</strong>r than a community health centre (i.e., Sections 17, 24, and 54).<strong>The</strong> <strong>Panel</strong> also noted some provisions that, on fur<strong>the</strong>r investigation, have been removedfrom <strong>the</strong> Alberta legislation on which <strong>the</strong> terri<strong>to</strong>rial <strong>Act</strong>s were based (i.e., Section 19).<strong>WCB</strong> <strong>Legislative</strong> <strong>Review</strong> <strong>Panel</strong> <strong>Report</strong> Page 80 <strong>of</strong> 128December, 2001

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