Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
Health and Community Services
December 17, 2009
Petition on Air
Ambulance Inaccurately Presented by Opposition in House
of Assembly
The Honourable
John Hickey, Minister of Labrador Affairs, today
corrected information regarding a petition that was
inaccurately presented by the Leader of the Opposition
Yvonne Jones in the House of Assembly on December 15
regarding air ambulance services. The issue was raised
on a point of order by Minister Hickey in the House of
Assembly today.
�Earlier today I received a letter from an individual,
Tracey Best, who had forwarded a petition to Ms. Jones,
seeking to establish a medevac response team and
aircraft in Labrador, and asked that it be presented in
the House of Assembly,� said Minister Hickey. �The
letter outlines Ms. Best�s disappointment about the
petition that was presented in the House by Ms. Jones
since the petition that was presented was not the
petition that was forwarded to Ms. Jones and signed by
3,000 people in Labrador. Ms. Best asked that I clarify
this matter for the record, which I agreed to do on
behalf of her and the residents of Labrador.�
Ms. Jones presented a petition to the House of Assembly
on December 15, 2009. The petition presented by Ms.
Jones called on the House of Assembly to �support and
strengthen the provincial air ambulance program based in
St. John�s and St. Anthony to provide reliable air
ambulance services and timely access for residents of
Labrador.�
However, the petition forwarded to Ms. Jones by Ms. Best
for presentation to the House of Assembly, and signed by
3,000 residents of Labrador, called on the provincial
government to �establish a medevac response team and
aircraft in Labrador.� The original petition did not
seek to have the current air ambulance program in St.
John�s and St. Anthony �upgraded� or �more efficient� as
presented by Ms. Jones.
�It is irresponsible for the Leader of the Opposition to
inaccurately present a petition presented to her by a
resident of this province concerning the province�s
health care system,� said the Honourable Jerome Kennedy,
Minister of Health and Community Services. �I have met
with town councils and residents of Happy Valley-Goose
Bay, Labrador City and Wabush, and two families with
concerns about the air ambulance system, including Ms.
Best. I have committed to reviewing the current system.
Residents of Labrador have requested, through this
petition, to the Opposition and to our government, that
an air ambulance be stationed in Labrador. It is
unfortunate that their petition, which outlines a very
serious situation, was falsely presented by the
Opposition.�
The Opposition issued a news release on December 15
which stated: �the Opposition leader also presented a
petition on behalf of 3,000 concerned citizens who are
requesting a strengthened air ambulance program to deal
more effectively with emergencies in Labrador.� The news
release goes on to state that Ms. Jones �recommended
that one solution would be to add a trauma team in St.
Anthony to help boost the air ambulance response time.�
An additional news release issued by the Opposition on
December 16 stated: �The air ambulance service in St.
Anthony must be enhanced to ensure a strong and reliable
service for the people of the province.� The release
further states that Marshall Dean, MHA for the
Straits-White Bay North, �met with the CEO of
Labrador-Grenfell Health to formally request a trauma
team for the St. Anthony air ambulance operation.�
�It appears that Ms. Jones and Mr. Dean are more
concerned about enhancing the current air ambulance
system in St. Anthony rather than providing air
ambulance services in Labrador,� said Minister Hickey.
�Not only did Ms. Jones inaccurately present a petition
in the House of Assembly on behalf of the residents of
Labrador, but she reiterated her comments in the House
of Assembly and in news releases issued to the media.�
�Our government is committed to providing quality health
care services for all regions of the province,� Minister
Kennedy added. �I committed to the residents of Labrador
to review the current air ambulance system, including
the number of transfers by region and response times, to
ensure that the service was best responding to needs. I
want to reassure the residents of Labrador that we are
aware of the concerns and that the review of the current
air ambulance program will be completed as soon as
possible.�
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Media
contacts:
John
Tompkins
Director of Communications
Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
709-729-1674, 728-7762
jtompkins@gov.nl.ca |
Tansy
Mundon
Director of Communications
Department of Health and Community Services
709-729-1377, 685-2646
tansymundon@gov.nl.ca
|
2009 12 17
4:50 p.m. |