For immediate release
1 September, 2021
NDP Leader Alison Coffin, reacting to the Minister of Health’s suggestion that NL should follow Nova Scotia’s recruitment and retention plan, shows the Liberal Government are acting without a plan. Nova Scotia is different than Newfoundland and Labrador in many ways so it is concerning Newfoundland and Labrador is relying on Nova Scotia for a recruitment and retention strategies. The NDP leader says this is just another government knee jerk reaction.
“Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff have all been calling for a Human Resources Plan for Health – why is government resisting their call for action?” said Coffin. “Clearly, having two doctors in cabinet does not seem to produce the outcomes we would have expected,” Coffin said today. “What will the impact to patients be while they wait for the Minister to realize we are not Nova Scotia?”
The NLMA recently publicly criticized the Minister of Health’s attempt at providing a solution. The question remains when the Minister of Health and the Premier are going to take this seriously and stop leaving thousands of patients without adequate access to health.
“The delay on prioritizing this plan is another example of how the Liberal Government just does not understand what people are facing in this province and choose to ignore it,” Coffin said today. “With ambulance red alerts occurring regularly, patients without access to a family doctor, and an aging population, the liberal government has to recognize that the situation is acute and needs the care and attention that respects our reality.”
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For further information, contact Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, NDP Caucus at 729-2137 (o), or eddystcoeur@gov.nl.ca