A new homeless shelter for youth topped a list of priorities Yukon doctors are sending to the territorial government following the Yukon Medical Association's annual meeting on Friday.

Doctors attending the meeting in Whitehorse voted unanimously to support a motion by Dr. Dan Carew, who spoke of an urgent and serious health need for a safe place for homeless youth to sleep.

"It has been on the radar screen for a while now and has had further press coverage this week with the unfortunate death of Angel Carlick," Carew said Friday, referring to the 19-year-old Whitehorse woman whose body was found near the city a week earlier.

Carlick, who was homeless at one point, spoke publicly last year about the need for a shelter to house her and other homeless youth.

Carew told doctors at the meeting that he often sees teenagers wandering around downtown in the small hours of the morning after he wraps up his late-night shifts at the Whitehorse General Hospital.

"There are a lot of youth on the streets. I mean, I'd leave the emergency room and I'd be seeing all these kids downtown," he said.

"These youth are at extreme risk for violence, poor health, suicide, unwanted pregnancies."

In addition to Carew's motion, doctors at the association's meeting also passed a motion calling on the Yukon government to pass a territorywide smoking ban in public places. The Yukon is the only provincial or territorial jurisdiction in Canada with no smoking restrictions.

Other priorities doctors identified included:

• A review of the health effects of uranium exploration and mining.
• A second psychiatric nurse be hired at the Whitehorse General Hospital.
• A Yukonwide plan to safeguard Yukoners' drinking water quality.
• A call for the federal government to take further steps to address climate change.

Dr. Rao Tadepalli was acclaimed Friday to his third term as the association's president. The Whitehorse physician said he'll continue working with the territorial government to recruit and retain more doctors.

As well, he said the association is trying to secure agreements with Alberta and British Columbia to have access to beds for Yukoners who must travel south for treatment.

"I know that we are working on it and we definitely hope to have access to hospitals on an equal par," Tadepalli said. "Our biggest challenge is in trying to find beds for these critical patients."

He added that he's optimistic that the Yukon's health-care system will continue to improve, pointing out that two new health clinics are preparing to open in Whitehorse.