Nurses’ union president says NS not in healthcare crisis

The conversation around what to do about the state of the healthcare system has people divided. 

Premier Tim Houston met with the Ontario, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island premiers earlier this week to discuss what can be done to address the ongoing issues in healthcare.

The president of the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union, Janet Hazelton, says introducing more options for private healthcare isn't the solution despite it being considered by provincial leaders. 

“All that will do, in my opinion, is take all of those resources from the public system and put it into the private system, and I'm not sure how that's going to fix anything,” Hazelton told CityNews Halifax. 

When questioned as to why Hazelton did not believe healthcare was in a crisis, she said that those who require urgent care receive it. 

“The problem I have with it is the whole issue around healthcare, and I wouldn't call it a crisis; we have some issues within healthcare, but if right now you had chest pain and you got to the hospital, you'd be treated,” Hazelton said. 

“We're hurting on primary care physicians or nurse practitioners where you can see someone on a regular basis in a reasonable amount of time,” Hazelton explained. 

“If you need a new knee or hip, you're waiting a long time, but if you need a requisition for blood work, you can get an appoint within a week or two at the most to get the bloodwork done and get it back to your primary care physician or nurse practitioner.”

But she says the shortage cannot be fixed in six months because it took 20 years to get into the situation the healthcare system is dealing with now. 

Hazelton says she is optimistic about the future of healthcare in the province, referencing the waitlists in post-secondary schools in the region for nursing programs. 

She also says the government is making a solid effort to address concerns by hiring recent graduates and offering retention recruitment bonuses. 

“Hundreds of young Nova Scotians want to be nurses,” said Hazelton. 

“We need to look closely at that and find out for rural Nova Scotia, if you're from Inverness and you're willing to go back and work in the hospital in Inverness, why aren't we giving those young men and women a lift up – help them with their tuition and then ask them to stay.”

Hazelton says the increase of private healthcare will hurt the public system's numbers, and even if other provinces allow the introduction of more private clinics, she doesn't believe those options elsewhere will convince people to leave the province for work. 

“We are already losing nurses,” Hazelton said. “We are, and that is a reality, but what we have to look at is how can we make your experience in the public system better, how can we make sure that nurses get time off.”

“They're leaving because of the work-life balance.”

Hazelton says the union isn't concerned about its numbers being affected by the potential introduction of more private clinics, citing how many who work in private long-term care facilities are unionized. 

“It's not about growing out numbers,” Hazelton said. 

“It's about making the right decisions for Nova Scotia/and we need to be able to provide healthcare to Nova Scotians in the public system, and we've got to figure it out, and I think we will figure it out.”