St. John’s, NL (January 16, 2025) – Tony Wakeham, Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador and MHA for Stephenville-Port au Port, today reaffirmed his commitment to allow nurse practitioners to bill the government for providing primary care services.
Wakeham was reacting to the recent announcement by the federal government that provincial and territorial health plans will cover primary care provided by nurse practitioners, pharmacists and midwives starting on April 1, 2026.
“This announcement is long overdue as people in our province are struggling to access the medical care they need and end up having to pay out of pocket,” said Wakeham.
“It is unacceptable that the Furey Liberals have essentially forced seniors and residents to pay nurse practitioners to access primary care services. A Wakeham Government will immediately implement changes to allow nurse practitioners – who are vital to our healthcare system – to operate to their full scope of practice and bill the government directly. We have 163,000 residents without a family doctor in our province, so it is imperative that we do everything possible to ensure people have timely access to the care that they deserve. Allowing nurse practitioners to bill the government is one way to help solve this serious problem.”
Wakeham noted that repeated calls by the PC Official Opposition Caucus for the Liberal government to cover the costs of primary care services provided by nurse practitioners have gone unheeded.
“Our leader and party have been extremely vocal and consistent on this important issue,” added Barry Petten, PC Official Opposition Shadow Minister for Health. “We continued to press the Minister in the House of Assembly last fall who was non-committal. I am at a loss to explain government’s deliberate failure on this matter.”
Wakeham reiterated there is no need to wait until April 1, 2026, to implement the change to provincial and territorial health plans.
“I don’t understand why the Furey Liberals have outright refused to act and deal with this issue now,” said Wakeham. “A PC Government led by me will step up for the people of the province and show real leadership. We will take immediate action to stop seniors, families, and other residents from being charged for primary healthcare. They deserve nothing less.”