(February 3, 2023, St. John’s) – Craig Pardy, MHA for Bonavista, says the Town of Bonavista is being forced to step up as the Liberal government continues to ignore the healthcare crisis in the region.

“The Bonavista Peninsula Health Centre is a Category B healthcare facility, which means less pay for doctors who wish to practice there, incentivizing doctors to seek work elsewhere. With no family doctors in the area, outside of the health centre, residents are often left with no medical coverage on the Peninsula, forcing them to travel for both routine and emergent care,” said Pardy.

“According to Quality of Care NL, the Bonavista Health Centre is the second busiest health centre emergency room, with upwards of 10,443 visits in a recent year. Despite this high volume of calls, the emergency room still sees frequent closures – over the last two months alone the centre was closed for 11 and a half days.”

Pardy is calling on the Liberal Government to designate the local healthcare centre as a Category A facility, to help boost the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals in the area.

“Such a busy healthcare centre cannot afford to be closed as often as we’ve seen in the last number of months. It’s forcing the Town Council to step in with recruitment and retention incentives – a clear sign that the Liberals are failing to ensure access to healthcare in the area,” said Pardy.

“Removing the Category B designation is one step the Liberals must take to make the region more attractive to healthcare professionals and ensure residents have health care available when needed.”

“The people of the Bonavista Peninsula are not ‘Category B’ residents. All residents of Newfoundland and Labrador should be able to access to primary and emergency health care when and where they need it,” concluded Pardy.

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Contacts:

David Maher

Director of Strategic Communications

(cell) 709-725-0984

DavidMaher@gov.nl.ca