Bay of Islands MHA suggests nurse practitioners as means to access health care and Health Minister agrees

Health Minister John Hogan says discussions on this are underway with the Federal Health Minister Mark Holland about paying for nurse practitioners.

Humber-Bay of Islands MHA is ringing the alarm bell over the situation at the emergency department in the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook. Joyce says patients are waiting up to thirty hours to see a doctor, some are on stretchers in the corridors, some are placed in storage rooms, and the waiting area has limited seating capacity. He says many of the acute care beds are still being used for long term care patients as there is no space available in Long Term Care facilities and he’s hearing they’re taking up sixty to seventy beds. Joyce says it’s been an issue since the new hospital opened and the old hospital should be opened for long term care needs as a short term solution. Joyce has written to the Premier and Health Minister asking these matters be addressed and would like to see government cover the costs of Nurse Practitioners. 

Meanwhile, Health Minister John Hogan says discussions on this are underway with the Federal Health Minister Mark Holland about paying for nurse practitioners. He says they’ll be meeting with the Federal Minister again this week in Halifax and expects payment for nurse practitioners will be a big topic. Hogan says government is also looking at options for long term care in the Corner Brook area and this includes using the former Western Memorial Regional Hospital.