NL NDP Leader Jim Dinn (St. John’s Centre) was in the House of Assembly today asking government questions around the lack of acute care beds in hospitals across our province due to patients in beds awaiting alternate levels of care and long-term care.
Dinn says that while the Minister spoke to this issue yesterday, he did not hear her discuss the importance of recruiting and retaining workers. He emphasized that workers are the answer, not just bricks and mortar or adding more physical beds.
“Speaker, yesterday, in response to a question on Western Memorial Regional Hospital, the Minister said her government supports increasing beds and will expand capacity for long term and alternate level care patients. Beds and expanded capacity require healthcare workers,” Dinn said. “I ask the Minister: How? What will her department do to recruit and retain the necessary health care professionals needed to care for the people in these beds?”
During the election, the NL NDP ran the NL Cares Health Plan, which focused completely on the recruitment and retention of workers. Dinn says government must think ahead and act now to ensure there are enough long-term care workers in our province – including PCAs, LPNs, and RNs – to support our aging population and the growing demand for alternate level of care beds needed to meet the province’s future needs.
“We can’t keep losing skilled professionals to burnout and better opportunities elsewhere,” Dinn said during the election on the NL Cares Health Plan. “This plan doesn’t just aim to bring more workers in – it makes Newfoundland and Labrador a place where they want to stay.”
“Workers actually deliver that essential care, not the beds. While bed space is needed, it is clear that incentivizing the workers who provide care in these facilities is paramount.”