November 29, 1996
(Health)

The following statement was issued today by Lloyd Matthews, Minister of Health. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

Over the past several days, concerns have been raised about the management and delivery of health care services in the Burin, Bonavista and Clarenville regions. As I reported at the time, a review process was put in place by the board to look into the concerns raised by medical staff. Today I would like to inform Honourable members of the House that the review committee presented the final report to the executive of the Peninsulas Health Care Corporation Board last night. The full board will be meeting this weekend to decide upon an appropriate course of action. Now that the committee is finished its work, I am confident that the board will work toward a speedy resolution of the issues and concerns brought to their attention.

I have asked the board to follow-up with the names of individuals supplied to me earlier this week by the Opposition. The board will review each of those circumstances and respond to the specific concerns in a timely manner.

I feel it incumbent upon me as Minister of Health to address safety concerns regarding equipment maintenance raised in the House over the past week. I have been informed that preventative maintenance checks were not carried out on all equipment in a timely manner due to an organizational review of external service contracts. Once the issue was brought to the board's attention, immediate steps were undertaken to correct the problem. All equipment has since been checked and all service contracts are now in place. I am confident, that this issue has now been resolved.

Further, I wish to add that follow-up with the private ambulance service in the Bonavista region determined that ambulance attendants ensure that patients arrive safely in the hospital and are not involved any further in the treatment of a patient. There is a treatment room in the Bonavista hospital where patients are often delivered by the attendant, however there are no surgical procedures carried out in that facility.

I am confident that the Peninsulas Health Care Corporation will work diligently over the next few weeks in resolving issues of concern to staff of the corporation and to residents of the Burin, Bonavista and Clarenville regions.

I would also like to thank all review committee members for their efforts over the past week in preparing this report.