Minister fears public misled about job cuts in health sector

Health and Community Services Minister Julie Bettney said today she is very concerned about recent public statements which suggest there are massive job reductions forthcoming in the health care sector.

"There have been statements which suggest job reductions included in the Western Health Care Corporation's three-year plan will translate into major job losses across the province; and that the document itself is a blueprint by which other health boards will fashion their own three-year plans," Minister Bettney noted. "That is not the case."

The minister said many of the measures included in the western board's plan have already been implemented by other health boards throughout Newfoundland and Labrador over the past several years. 

"It is important to set the record straight," she said. "Several of the recommended changes included in the Western Health Care Corporation's plan simply bring the board closer in line with the current levels of operation at other health boards in the province. 

"It concerns me that the public may be led to believe changes in the western region will be extrapolated across Newfoundland and Labrador. In fact, the reverse is true. The western board is now proposing changes based on similar moves already undertaken elsewhere."

Minister Bettney said other health boards are preparing their own three-year plans based on the specific challenges facing their respective regions. To suggest these plans are modelled after the western board's plan would therefore be inappropriate.

"Such a misconception could lead to unnecessary concerns among health care stakeholders throughout the province - and we are all health care stakeholders," Minister Bettney said.

Meanwhile, the minister said she is prepared to work with the Western Health Care Corporation to meet the challenge of providing improved medical and clinical services to residents in the region, while simultaneously identifying efficiencies aimed at reducing the board's three-year accumulated deficit of over $20 million - the largest in the province.

"Clearly, the status quo is not an option," she said. "We must identify efficiencies which will ensure western residents - and indeed all residents of Newfoundland and Labrador - will have a quality, publicly-funded and affordable health care system today and well into the future."

The minister is scheduled to meet with Western Health Care Corporation officials on Wednesday, February 21, to discuss the three-year plan and its implications for the future of health services in the region.

"This is an opportunity for me, as the new Minister of Health and Community Services, to satisfy myself that our collective long-term health care goals can be achieved through implementation of this plan," she said. "I look forward to meeting with the board next week."

Media contact: Heather May, (709) 729-3127.

2001 02 15                                       4:10 p.m.