(October 25, 2024 St. John’s, N.L.) – PC Shadow Minister for Health Barry Petten (MHA, Conception Bay South) says it is shameful that less than a year after opening the billion-dollar new Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook, the Furey Liberals realize they built it too small.
“For an entire decade, the Liberals assured western Newfoundlanders they had planned things right so the brand-new hospital would meet the region’s needs for long years to come, but it simply wasn’t true,” said Petten. “The Liberals had plenty of time to get this right, but as with so much else they’ve undertaken on their watch, their serious lack of planning has led to terrible consequences. Because they refused to listen to the people of the region who told them they were not doing things right, they’re now scrambling to find ad-hoc solutions to a mess of their own creation.”
The government announced on Friday that it needs to squeeze 15 beds into the new Long-Term Care Centre by doubling room occupancy and issuing a Request for Proposals for an interim Alternate Level of Care Centre to free up more space in a hospital built too small.
“Just months after cutting the ribbon, they are already looking for interim solutions to accommodate patients they failed to plan for,” said Petten.
“In a province where our rapidly aging population has been obvious for decades, anyone with an ounce of forethought would have known you have to significantly increase long-term care capacity so people needing long-term care are not left in acute-care beds that are needed for acute-care patients. That’s just basic math.”
Petten said there were other ways the government messed up the new hospital. Residents of the region were promised cancer care that it turns out the new hospital cannot provide, meaning sick patients still have to travel long distances for vital care, just as they did before the new hospital was opened.
“Imagine how much suffering could have been alleviated if only the Liberals had listened to local people and properly planned things from the start,” he said.
A new Wakeham-led PC government will prioritize planning and listening so that all health care and infrastructure initiatives will reflect the true needs of a region. The people of each region will be properly heard, and diagnostic equipment will be spread across the province, so people have easier local access to timely care, allowing them to be diagnosed and treated sooner for better outcomes.