Will recruit nurses as part of publicly funded system to deliver care to the regions that need it most
SYDNEY – Help is on the way for Nova Scotian patients and families who live in previously underserved areas. Today Premier Tim Houston announced that a re-elected PC Government will establish an internal travel nurse team, thereby ending the need to hire external companies.
“Our travel nurses will be Nova Scotia Health employees with access to the pay and benefits of other nurses in our public system,” said Houston. “When up and running, this team will ensure that even in rural areas, we can deploy nurses to help the patients and families who need them most.”
The new internal nursing team will employ nurses out of the Nova Scotia Health Authority. A pilot program focussed on Emergency Department nurses will launch by the end of 2024. The estimate for the 30-nurse pilot travel nurse team is approximately $5.3 million. If the Province were to hire 30 private agency nurses, the cost would be $8.2 million, resulting in savings of $2.9 million under the PC plan.
“Recruiting more nurses into the public system, giving them more fulfilling career options, and enabling them to contribute where and how they are needed most just makes sense,” said Houston. “It is an example of how our government is doing more and going faster than any government that came before.”
Houston also highlighted the steps his government has taken to recruit and train more doctors, including opening a new medical school on the campus of Cape Breton University in September that will train 30 doctors every year who have committed to stay in the province. The Houston PCs are also opening North America’s first ever International Medical Graduate Assessment Clinic, which will fast track assessments on doctors trained in other countries and will bring another 45 doctors per year to Nova Scotia.
“When it comes to health care, previous Liberal and NDP Governments did not just kick the can down the road, they kicked it into the next county,” said Houston. “Today Nova Scotia finally has a plan that is working. Cape Bretoners and Nova Scotians deserve to see more doctors and finally have a government that will do what it takes to make it happen.”