St. John’s, N.L. (February 5, 2025) – Barry Petten, PC MHA for Conception Bay South and Shadow Minister for Health, is calling out the Furey Liberals after being contacted by a family whose child is waiting on an appointment with the Janeway Eye Clinic.

The Kenmount Terrace family had been referred to the Janeway Eye Clinic by their Optometrist. They recently received a letter from NLHS which instead of having a date for an appointment said “due to the excessive number of patients on the waitlist, you may have an extended wait time.”

“This family, worried about their child going blind, hasn’t received a date for an appointment. The wait list is too long to give them an appointment date.  How many years are they going to have to wait?”

Petten said the family are reeling from the failure of the NL Healthcare system and are exploring options for assessment outside the province.

“Sadly, I have heard from too many families who are waiting on cardiac treatment, waiting on an MRI or waiting for a CT scan.  Our healthcare system is failing so many families who are among the 163,000 without a family doctor or cannot access critical treatment or even basic diagnostic care,” added Petten.

“Nurse Practitioners still cannot bill Government directly. Seniors and others desperate for care are forced to pay out of pocket to access primary care.  It is simply not good enough that the Furey Liberals have solutions before them but continually fail to act,” concluded Petten.

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