(August 27, 2021) – Paul Dinn PC Opposition Shadow Minister of Health and MHA for Topsail-Paradise, says Minister Haggie’s latest comments on doctor recruitment show he’s still in denial about Newfoundland and Labrador’s healthcare crisis.

Haggie made comments to VOCM stating Newfoundland and Labrador’s healthcare recruitment strategy is being “mirrored” by Nova Scotia and that the number of physicians in the province is actually increasing.

“Tell that to the 90,000 people who remain without a doctor in our province. The huge gap in access to a family physician only compounds the problems in our healthcare system. It drives people to emergency rooms for prescriptions, it means illnesses that could be monitored get worse without detection,” said Dinn.

“It all comes together to make health outcomes worse, increase wait times, and cost more tax payer dollars for our healthcare system. Clearly, government has to improve its recruitment and retention strategy to make up the 90,000-person gap in our healthcare system.”

Dinn says if Nova Scotia is indeed on par with Newfoundland and Labrador’s strategy, then government needs to find new, distinct ways to recruit physicians or risk missing out on those who choose to practice in Nova Scotia instead.

“Newfoundland and Labrador has unique challenges, which means we need unique strategies. We need innovative solutions: what guarantees can we make to the spouses of family physicians that could encourage them to settle here? How can we retain more graduates from our local medical school?” said Dinn.

“If our strategy is the same as our Atlantic neighbours, then Newfoundland and Labrador risks losing out. It’s been six years since Haggie took over the department and the issues in healthcare have only gotten worse. Once again, I call on Minister Haggie to release an updated doctor recruitment program – otherwise Newfoundland and Labrador risks worsening our healthcare crisis.”  

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Contacts:

David Maher

Director of Strategic Communications

(cell) (709) 725-0984

DavidMaher@gov.nl.ca