(September 17, 2021) – PC Official Opposition Leader and MHA for Conception Bay East – Bell Island, David Brazil, on behalf of the entire PC Caucus, today is echoing Newfoundland and Labrador healthcare professionals that our province is in a full-blown healthcare crisis and is calling on the Premier to intervene.

Brazil says, “If the Minister won’t admit that we are in a full-blown healthcare crisis in our province, then it’s time for the Premier to deal with it. Virtually every healthcare professional group has acknowledged that our system is deteriorating. If the Minister can’t even acknowledge the problem, how can he fix it? Just yesterday, the Minister left in the middle of a meeting with union paramedics to hold a press conference on the outcome of that exact meeting. This Minister’s attitude towards our hardworking healthcare professionals is disgraceful.”

In recent weeks and months, various healthcare unions, associations, and the Minister’s officials have been sounding the alarm bells:

· Jerry Earle, President of NAPE - “We are in – not on the cusp of – Paramedicine is in critical condition. Critical condition. The symptoms are there. The diagnosis is clear. But we have a physician failing to treat. A physician failing to treat.”

· Yvette Coffey, President of the Registered Nurses Union NL - “I’ve been working as a registered nurse for 12 years now, and this is the worst I’ve seen it since I started. It’s disheartening and very frustrating, especially on the front lines — we are the ones patients take out their frustration on, even though we’re doing the best we can.”

· Dr. Susan MacDonald, President of the NL Medical Association – “The status quo is just not good enough. We have a crisis in the emergency room, we have a crisis in family medicine. There are problems everywhere. It’s time to say enough is enough, and we have to change.”

· Eastern Health Officials – “Continuous increases in annual (ambulance) call volumes have left the metro ambulance service dangerously understaffed and unable to meet call volume demands for both emergency and non-emergency responses,"

“The Minister has been in his role for six years and our healthcare system is in tatters. Diagnosing the problem is always the first step, and right now, that problem is the Minister. It’s time for the Premier to get off the campaign trail with his Liberal buddies and do his actual job,” says Brazil.
 

Contacts:

Bradley Russell

Director of Communications and Digital Strategy

(p) 709-729-3668

BradleyRussell@gov.nl.ca

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