The following statement was issued today by Julie Bettney, Minister of Health and Community Services. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

Health Forums

I am pleased to rise in the House today to provide my colleagues with an update on the series of regional health forums which I held throughout the province during October.

As my colleagues are aware, since September, government has engaged in the most extensive consultation process ever undertaken in this province on our health and community services system. The purpose of this consultation is to reach a consensus on the key principles which will guide the decision making on the future of the health system in this province.

Following the release of a province-wide discussion document entitled Reaching Consensus and Planning Ahead, I co-chaired with the regional Strategic Social Planning Committees seven regional forums throughout the province. At these forums, we brought together approximately 400 health professionals and municipal and community leaders. Their input on the strategic health issues facing the province and the major health planning areas has been invaluable.

I won't speak today in detail on the views which came forward during the forums. However, I will note some key areas:

� There is overwhelming support for greater attention on health promotion and the prevention of illness;

� There is widespread consensus that the primary health care system needs to be changed in order to ensure better access to basic health and community services; and

� There is consensus that "quality" needs to be maintained.

And the one message that underpinned all other issues discussed in this phase of the consultation was that indeed there is a need for fundamental change in our health system. People recognize we cannot continue as we are, running deficits year after year. Nor can we continue to put more money into the system - frankly, this province just does not have the resources to do so.

While people want the federal government to contribute more to health funding, participants rejected having the province raise taxes, borrow, or take money from elsewhere in government. With 44 cents of every dollar that government spends on programs and services going into the health system, there is a realization that we can live within our means - that we can have a quality health system that will meet the needs of the people of this province within our existing fiscal framework.


This government faces many challenges in delivering the kind of health and community services and programs that the people of this province expect and demand. This is despite the tremendous amount of financial resources this government continues to invest into the health system. Approximately one-third of this province's global budget is spent on health and community services. In real terms, $1.4 billion of taxpayers dollars is spent on health.

Rising costs, high public expectations, and recruitment and retention of health professionals are among those challenges which we share with jurisdictions across this country. Not the least of these challenges is financial sustainability.

We now face the daunting task of improving our health system - making it one that meets the needs of the people of this province - and accomplishing that within our current resources.

Of course, we have and will continue to make sure our voice is heard with the other provinces in asking the federal government to return its investment into health to 1994 levels, along with an appropriate escalator. Yet, while we know we need more funding from the federal level, we also know that money is not the only answer.

Next week, on November 27 and 28, I will bring together more stakeholders and representatives of the community to take this consultation another step further. And I have extended an invitation to my colleagues, Mr. Jack Harris, the leader of the NDP, and the two health critics for the Opposition, Ms. Sheila Osbourne and Mr. Ross Wiseman to join me at the provincial forum.

Based on what I have heard throughout the regional forums, I look forward to a very productive session in which we will achieve a consensus on what the cornerstones of our health system will be. And it will be from those cornerstones that we will build a new model of health delivery.

It is our hope this model will ensure the people of this province have access to appropriate, affordable, quality health programs and services. I look forward to the completion of this consultation process and proceeding to a strategic health plan for our province.

Thank you.

2001 11 20                           2:15 p.m.