For Immediate Release
20 February, 2024
Lela Evans (Torngat Mountains) is calling on government to stop disrespecting local nurses and re-direct money being handed over to a sole-source private nursing agency back into our public healthcare system.
“For years we have been calling on the Liberal government to focus on retention of public healthcare workers,” said Evans. “Instead, this government created a two-tiered system for workers. Our public workers who carried us through the pandemic are earning less, and have worse workplace conditions. That’s a slap in the face.”
“This government should be lifting up our public workers instead of showing them such disrespect.”
Evans laid out four points that the Premier must follow to address the fallout from his government’s choices and restore confidence in our public healthcare system:
Support the NDP call from December 2023 to have the Auditor General investigate the province’s reliance on private healthcare workers,
Direct the Minister of Health to reinvest in public healthcare by following the lead of his counterparts across the country and announce NL’s date to end the use of travel nurses,
Announce an end to the use of private travel agency nurses, as has been done in other provinces,
Offer the workplace benefits being handed over to travel nurses at a for-profit premium to our local nurses who with their colleagues in public healthcare held the healthcare system together during the pandemic.
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For further information, contact Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, NDP Caucus at 729-2137 (o), or eddystcoeur@gov.nl.ca