Vitalité seeks partner for daycare pilot for health-care workers in Restigouche
Request for proposals to be issued in weeks after regional leaders call delay 'unacceptable'
The Restigouche region could be a step closer to getting a daycare pilot for health-care workers, according to the head of Vitalité Health Network.
The regional health authority plans to issue a request for proposals for a partner to run such a daycare "in the next few weeks," president and CEO Dr. France Desrosiers told CBC News.
It would be Vitalité's first in New Brunswick.
Desrosiers made the comments following Vitalité's public board meeting in Campbellton on Tuesday, where several regional leaders used the question period to reiterate the urgent need for a designated daycare that would operate seven days a week and at least 12 hours a day, if not 24.
"For almost two years now, we've been discussing the need for a daycare for healthcare workers," said Brad Mann, president and chair of the Restigouche Regional Service Commission, which encompasses the municipalities, communities and local service districts from Durham Parish (excluding Belledune) in the East to the Kedgwick rural community in the West.
A daycare is one of the top priorities for the Restigouche Regional Service Commission, said president and chair Brad Mann. (Submitted by Brad Mann)
"Some existing employees are unable to return from maternity [and] other leaves because they cannot find a daycare," he said. "Others do not accept positions here because they have no daycare."
"[In] March 2023, we were assured the daycare would be in place by September. We're now April 2024 and it is still in development."
It's "unacceptable," said Mann, who called for a "commitment and a timeline" for a daycare to be established.
Could reduce need for travel nurses
Normand Pelletier, mayor of Heron Bay, said a daycare is needed, not only to help nurses get back to work, but also to attract young professionals to the region.
"We spoke with the premier and his departments [last year] and they support us completely in this process," Pelletier said in French.
"Now we have several travelling nurses. And they're very expensive for the province," he said, after the meeting heard Vitalité is nearly $98 million over budget for the first 11 months of the 2023–2024 fiscal year, $94.2 million of which is because of expenses related to travel nurses.
"We're certain that [a daycare] can help solve the issues at the Campbellton Hospital in terms of staffing."
'A cry from the heart'
Campbellton Mayor Jean-Guy Levesque told the board "aggressive solutions" are needed and described a daycare as a "concrete solution that should already have been implemented."
He noted the municipality recently secured $4.5 million from the federal government and plans to build at least 200 housing units, which should help with recruitment.
But when health-care professionals move to the area, they bring their families with them, he said.
"We [will] take care of their housing, but if we don't take care of the daycare problem, people will not come to Restigouche."
Campbellton
Mayor Jean-Guy Levesque said the municipality and regional service
commission could help Vitalité find a partner for the daycare. (Serge Bouchard/Radio-Canada)
Levesque, a public servant for 35 years, urged the board to "pay attention."
"This is a cry from the heart," he said. "We really need this daycare — and quickly."
'Can't do it on our own'
Desrosiers said during the meeting that a daycare has "always been part of [Vitalité's] vision."
But "we can't do it on our own," she said. "We need support."
Later, she told CBC Vitalité's mandate is to deliver health care, not run a daycare.
"So we are looking for partnership in the community," she said, adding another holdup has been getting enough funded spaces, because that's what employees are looking for.
Dr.
France Desrosiers, president and CEO of Vitalité Health Network, said
Restigouche is the right place for a daycare pilot because that's where
the biggest recruitment challenge is. (Gilles Boudreau/Radio-Canada)
Initially, Vitalité got fewer than 20 spaces, Desrosiers said. The situation is "better now," but she could not provide a number.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Pursuing daycares for Saint John, Fredericton
"Horizon is actively working toward providing daycare services in Saint John and Fredericton, in collaboration with our hospital foundations," said president and CEO Margaret Melanson.
"We have made very good progress to date, and we hope to have further announcements later this spring."
She said Horizon already has a daycare at the Moncton Hospital, which is used by staff as well as members of the community.
In early 2022, Horizon conducted a survey about the possibility of creating a daycare program either onsite or near the Saint John Regional Hospital and the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton. It's conducting another survey to better understand how many children and what age groups would potentially use the program, according to its website.
Neighbouring Nova Scotia has a round-the-clock daycare pilot underway in Sydney; the Health Park Early Learning Centre. The province covers the wages when extra staff are required, food for the evening program, and a quarter of the operating costs of the daycare, such as heat and electricity. It also subsidizes half the daycare fees for parents.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, four daycare sites with a combined 180 spaces and hours that are suitable for health-care workers are expected to be open by the end of the year.
Best location in dispute
Vitalité has identified a location for the Restigouche daycare "five minutes" away from the hospital, said Desrosiers.
She declined to say exactly where, because some health-care professionals work there now and have not yet been informed that they may need to move.
The former addiction services building on Gallant Dr. had been flagged by the regional services commission as an ideal location, because it's between the Campbellton Regional Hospital and Restigouche Hospital Centre, and near the new detox centre — roughly 1,300 health-care workers, according to Mann.
But that site was deemed "not appropriate" because of its proximity to the highway and certain services, such as detox, which Desrosiers said raised concerns about safety for the children.
The other proposed location, in hospital, was quickly ruled out too because the renovation costs would be "three times" as high, and the space is needed for beds, she added.
Desrosiers could not say how quickly a daycare could be up and running, but did say she is "optimistic" about the request for proposals process, as some private contractors have already expressed interest.
Support from health professionals
The New Brunswick Nurses Union supports calls by the Restigouche Regional Service Commission to establish a daycare program for health-care workers, said president Paula Doucet.
"It's one piece of a very large puzzle," she said, referring to recruitment and retention.
Just
finding a daycare spot can be difficult, but it's even more challenging
for nurses when many daycares only operate between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
and they often work 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., said Paula Doucet, president of
the New Brunswick Nurses Union. (Daniel St Louis/New Brunswick Nurses Union)
The need for convenient daycare hours is one of the big issues the union has heard from members through various surveys over the years, said Doucet.
She noted many daycares only open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m., while many nurses start their shift around 7 a.m. and work for 12 hours.
Some nurses have had to reduce their full-time hours to part-time or casual because of daycare hour conflicts, she said.
Dr. Paula Keating, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, said childcare is a 'major concern' for many physicians. (Submited by N.B. Medical Society)
The New Brunswick Medical Society also supports the need for a daycare in Restigouche, said president Dr. Paula Keating.
"Access to childcare has repeatedly been identified as a primary factor in the ability of health professionals to keep working," she said in an emailed statement.
"Many physicians, especially those newer to practice, have young families and childcare is major concern. For that reason, the NBMS has long advocated for childcare programs, supported by government, to be made available for health-care workers," Keating said.
"This would not only allow physicians currently practising in New Brunswick to return to work sooner or more completely, but would also serve as a legitimate incentive in recruiting new physicians to the province."
Reply to David Amos
Reply to David Amos
Perhaps the good doctor will ignore Higgs and do the right thing.
Travel nurse costs help push Vitalité nearly $98M over budget
Discussions underway to have province foot the bill for private agency nurse contracts, says CEO
Vitalité Health Network says it's nearly $98 million over budget for the first 11 months of the 2023–2024 fiscal year, mainly because of expenses related to travel nurses.
Hiring the 190 full-time equivalent private agency staff accounted for $94.2 million of the cost overrun between April 1, 2023 and Feb. 29, 2024, according to vice-chair Réjean Després.
That's about 12 per cent of Vitalité's budget.
"These costs do not have to do with luxury expenses," said Després, who presented the figures as part of Vitalité's quarterly report at the board's public meeting in Campbellton Tuesday.
The travel nurses were needed to maintain patient services while supporting health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
Seeks to have province foot bill
Dr. France Desrosiers, president and CEO of Vitalité, said discussions are underway to have the province foot the bill.
"According to the latest news, the money must come from the Department of Health," she told reporters in French, following Tuesday's meeting.
The department did not respond to a request for comment about this.
Dr.
France Desrosiers, president and CEO of Vitalité, has said only a very
limited number of agencies were able to provide the necessary
French-speaking or bilingual resources in a timely manner. (Gilles Boudreau/Radio-Canada)
But a Vitalité spokesperson told CBC News Wednesday the department "has been funding these costs overrun since fiscal year 2022-23."
The contracts Vitalité had between July 2022 and March 2023 were with four agencies — Canadian Health Labs, People2.0 Workforce Services Canada, Goodwill Staffing & Recruitment and Agence SPI.
The cost of those contracts totalled more than $19 million, according to figures provided by the regional health authority.
Horizon did not respond to a request for information about its travel nursing cost overruns or any discussions with the department to absorb those costs.
Audit underway
Nursing unions and opposition parties have criticized the use of travel nurses in New Brunswick, which is costing taxpayers millions of dollars. A Globe and Mail investigation found agencies such as Toronto-based Canadian Health Labs have charged rates of more than $300 an hour — roughly six times what a local staff nurse earns.
Deputy health minister Eric Beaulieu told a legislative committee in February that the government was aware of Vitalité's first contract, which was worth up to $20 million. It was informed of the other two after the fact, late in the 2022-23 fiscal year, he said.
Last month, Auditor General Paul Martin announced he has launched an investigation of travel nurse contracts with Vitalité and Horizon health networks and the departments of health and social development.
'Still using them as if it was Day 1'
Paula Doucet, president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, doesn't believe the province should pay for any cost overruns because of travel nurses.
While the need might have been urgent at the peak of the pandemic, "here we are two years after the fact that they're still using them as if it was Day 1," she said.
Paula
Doucet, president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, described travel
nurses as a 'Band-Aid solution,' and said the regional health
authorities need to have 'robust plans' to retain the staff they have
and to recruit. (Daniel St Louis/New Brunswick Nurses Union)
Doucet blames a lack of planning and many years of not listening to the union warning about a nursing shortage on the horizon.
"And now find ourselves using taxpayer dollars over the last two years to use private for-profit companies to supply registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to keep our health-care system afloat."
Reduction in need expected by September
Vitalité plans to phase out the use of travel nurses by the winter of 2026, when the last and largest of its current contracts, with Canadian Health Labs at a cap of $93 million, expires.
It has six private agency contracts for 2023-24, with the same agencies as 2022-23, according to the spokesperson.
"The number of nurses to be provided varies by contract and is based on our needs to maintain hospital services. The cost is based on the number of travel nurse personnel provided."
Some of the strategies Vitalité has implemented should start producing results by this September, Desrosiers told CBC News. These include changes around models of care — introducing new types of professions to teams so fewer nurses are required, and recruitment and retention initiatives.
Health Minister Bruce Fitch said his department is working with Vitalité to 'figure out a way forward.' (Roger Cosman//CBC)
Health Minister Bruce Fitch said his department is working with Vitalité to try to find ways to alleviate its need for travel nurses and to increase recruitment.
"There's a number of missions that have occurred over the last little while to find people to replace those travel nurses," particularly in places where French is more prevalent, such as France, Morocco, Belgium, he said.
While Horizon expects to stop using travel nurses "in the very not too distant future," according to Fitch, it can be more challenging for Vitalité because there are fewer francophone nurses available, he said.
Vitalité also has vacancies in northern communities, which "are a little bit harder to recruit," he said.
"We're working together. We're trying to figure out a way forward. There's still some work to do, but we're moving forward on that."
The union president contends if Vitalité is at a disadvantage in recruiting because of language, it should invest in helping local anglophone nurses become bilingual.
When Doucet started her career many years ago at Chaleur Regional Hospital, French language training was offered in the hospital, she said. "It worked," but "they did away with that."
Vitalité does offer "over the phone" French language training, but it's "not the same," she said.
Minister looks forward to first-quarter results
It would be "impossible to do without [travel nurses] completely right now," Desrosiers said in a recent statement, "given the immediate needs that are still as great as they were in 2022," when Vitalité started to use them.
The staffing situation was "critical" because of the departures and early retirements during the COVID-19 pandemic — "to the point where we were facing imminent emergency department and even facility closures," she has said.
"This temporary but necessary measure allowed us to save lives, relieve our staff by reducing team exhaustion and turnover."
The province has allocated an extra $70 million for the regional health authorities in the 2024-25 budget to "help stabilize and ease pressures."
Fitch said he's "looking forward to first-quarter, second-quarter results, just to see if there's any way we can come in on budget without negatively affecting the clinical aspect of it."
Vitalité's remaining $3.6 million operating deficit for the first 11 months of 2023-24 is mainly due to expenses related to small equipment and professional services in laboratory, pharmacy and infrastructure, Després told the board meeting.
"These were unplanned but urgent spending," he said. No other details were provided.
With files from Radio-Canada and Shane Fowler
Why is government changing legislation to enable board members to be elected?
In an effort to bring more accountability and transparency to the management of health authorities, government has recently amended the Regional Health Authorities Act to enable the election of members to regional health authority boards.
Why is it important to elect board members?
The election of board members will strengthen regional representation, and help our health care system to be more integrated, efficient, and run for the benefit of all New Brunswickers.
The election of board members provides an opportunity for local communities to have input into health care management and puts the onus on communities to take an active interest in ensuring that their representatives are active, informed and qualified to undertake their duties as board members.
The way it is: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-regional-health-authority-boards-2023-1.6894593Province paid more than $2.5M for travel nurses to work long-term care homes
Minister says emergency situation justified paying higher wages to private agency
Travel nurses brought in to work in long-term care in 2022 earned two-to-three times more than their New Brunswick-based colleagues, the province says.
Minister of Social Development Jill Green told a legislative committee Thursday that long-term care homes were in an emergency situation at the time the department signed contracts totalling just over $2.5 million with two private companies.
Toronto-based Canadian Health Labs received almost all of that money to provide 55 staff, from February to May 2022, Green said. The company charged a rate of $9,995 for a team of 10 people on an eight-hour shift.
That works out to an average of about $125 per hour, per person, although the hourly rates of pay "are not known by Social Development," according to spokesperson Kate Wright.
In an emailed statement, Wright did say that Canadian Health Labs provided a combination of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and personal support workers.
In addition to that contract, Green said Social Development struck a $176,000 agreement with Plan A, an agency from Sudbury, Ont., for 34 staff, from February to July 2022.
Hourly wages varied under that contract with Plan A, depending on the position, Green said, with $89.50 paid to registered nurses, $59.50 to licensed practical nurses and $39.50 to personal support workers.
Those rates are notably higher than what New Brunswickers, working alongside the contract nurses, would have received at the time.
As per the province's collective agreements, hourly wages ranged from $37 to $45 for registered nurses, $29 to $32 for licensed practical nurses, and $21 to $23 for personal support workers.
The Social Development contracts are smaller than those struck by the province's regional health authorities for travel nurses, but are among those under investigation by Auditor General Paul Martin.
A Globe and Mail investigation found Vitalité Health Network, which oversees New Brunswick's francophone hospitals, has awarded several large contracts to Canadian Health Labs.
Most recently, a $93-million agreement took effect on Dec. 2, 2022, and will run until February 2026, effectively charging Vitalité $306.70 an hour, per nurse.
Green told committee members the Social Development contracts were not awarded through the typical tender process.
Instead, she said, the department used an emergency exemption available under provincial procurement laws.
"There was no intent to hide anything or not speak about it publicly," she said. "As you can appreciate, with 410 [COVID-19] outbreaks that were happening at the time, it was an emergency situation."
The minister noted there were about 4,000 long-term care staff who tested positive for COVID-19 at the time.
Green was not available for an interview about the contracts with CBC News on Thursday.
Social Development does not have any current contract with private agencies, Green said in the legislative committee meeting, but added that some individual nursing homes may still be using that option.
That's because the province is not always the direct employer of long-term care staff, she said.
"We have not been entertaining any thoughts around hiring agencies like this going forward," Green said.
"We talked to a few companies, three to four, to assess who had capacity at that time. And then we went with the ones that had capacity because we were in an emergency situation."
Opposition MLAs were not convinced by the minister's rationale for the costly contracts.
"There could have been a solution worked with the union, worked with our public service nurses," Green Party MLA Kevin Arseneau said.
"If we needed to go get out-of-province nurses, there would have been other ways to do that than to give this to private companies at incredible prices, all while undercutting our own public service. It's unacceptable as a strategy."
Liberal social development critic Robert Gauvin said the province should have spent on bonuses or other incentives for in-province workers instead.
"We have no problems spending three times as much for external workers, and yet we don't give incentive to keep the workers that are here now," he said in an interview.
New Brunswick Nurses Union president Paula Doucet has called for an end to travel nursing contracts. (CBC)
The New Brunswick Nurses Union and the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions were not available for comment Thursday.
However, Paula Doucet, president of the Nurses Union, has previously called for an end to travel nursing contracts.
"Invest in New Brunswick, invest in New Brunswickers, and invest in New Brunswick nurses. And then maybe we would have a better health-care system for all," she said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon
It's an angry Liberal.
Not used to being out of power.
Been a long time between brown paper bags stuffed with cash?
A classic example of what the Higgs government had done with the Nursing crisis in NB for years prior to the massive shortages.
Is is borderline comical that Higgs had to pay these outrageous amounts for travelling nurses all because of short sighted planning and management by his government.
Tuesday 9 April 2024
On-site massage chairs available for New Brunswick health-care workers
On-site massage chairs available for New Brunswick health-care workers
19 RecharjMe cabins, distributed between Vitalité and Horizon Health hospitals and Ambulance N.B. locations
During a long day at work, Justin Surette decided to get a massage, with some relaxing music and heat, at Vitalité Health Network's new relaxation booth.
"When I came out, I was feeling like a new person," said Surette.
"It is kind of like waking up in the morning."
Surette, the health and safety adviser at the Vitalité Health Network, is one of the many health-care workers who can now book a 25-minute session at the RecharjMe cabins installed at health centres across the province.
The
cabins were placed at the Dumont hospital's cafeteria earlier this year
and have been available for staff use since January. (Rhythm Rathi/CBC)
The relaxation cabins were officially launched on Tuesday at Moncton's Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre's cafeteria as a partnership between the Vitalité and Horizon health networks and Ambulance New Brunswick.
The modern-looking, closet-like cabins have just enough space for one occupant to lie down on the reclining massage chair. The reservations are made through an app, which generates a code for the user to begin their session.
The cabins are dark, soundproof and have a wall-mounted touch screen, along with a remote control to change the settings. They offer a vibrating heated massage therapy along with a meditation playlist or relaxing music.
Surette said the cabins were placed at the Dumont hospital's cafeteria earlier this year and have been available for staff use since January.
"I would say I probably use them at least twice a week, give or take, if not more — depending," he said.
He said some days at work can get hectic and it helps to have this service available to relax and start fresh. Surette said the cabins are popular among the night-shift workers.
"I see a lot of employees using them."
The
cabin offers a vibrating heated massage along with a meditation
playlist or relaxing music, which can be controlled and adjusted
according to the user's preference. (Rhythm Rathi/CBC)
Pilot project
Brittany Stein, Horizon Health's regional director of employee health, wellness and safety, said a total of 19 RecharjMe cabins are available at various health locations in the province.
She said any health-care employee can access them at any location at no cost, but the access is limited to one session every 24 hours.
As it gets more popular, the challenge of finding an available spot will increase, but she said that is a positive indication of the service being used well.
"I think we all know health care is really incredibly challenging right now, especially in the province of New Brunswick ... so we want to provide a menu of offerings for health-care workers," she said.
Stein said the cabins are one of a number of initiatives, such as flexible scheduling, to make the experience better for those working in the health-care industry.
This is a one-year pilot project that will later be assessed to determine its future, she said.
Brittany
Stein, Horizon Health's regional director of employee health, wellness
and safety, says the cabins are a one-year pilot project. (Rhythm Rathi/CBC)
The cabins have been successful in many hospital locations in Quebec and are built by a Quebec start-up company, Stein said.
"The project is an extension of the provincial health plan's strategy to increase employee satisfaction, reduce absenteeism brought on by injury or illness and reduce attrition," according to a media release.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Surely the Higgs government has more than this in their “strategy” for fixing the dire healthcare crisis we are facing in this province … please, someone in government, assure the rest of us that there is more to the “provincial health plan strategy” … please …
Also, who ever is in charge of communications in the department of health should be fired. Making the massage chair announcement on the day the inquest releases its recommendation seems designed to give a finger to NB citizens.
I wonder which friend of Higgs owns a franchise.
Very clear illustrations of a health care system that is completely and utterly rudderless. The Higg's Age in NB health care; an upside down system that makes no sense.
Wednesday 6 March 2024
Auditor general announces probe of travel nurse contracts in N.B.
Auditor general announces probe of travel nurse contracts in N.B.
Vitalité, Horizon and departments of Health and Social Development will be audited, says Paul Martin
Auditor General Paul Martin will conduct a review of New Brunswick's controversial use of private agency nurses, known as travel nurses, which is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
His office announced the independent audit of "the management of contracts pertaining to travel nurses" Wednesday in a news release.
The Vitalité and Horizon health networks, the Department of Health and the Department of Social Development will all be audited.
"This work is very important in keeping government departments and agencies accountable for the spending of New Brunswick tax dollars," Martin said in a statement.
Asked what prompted him to undertake the audit, Martin told CBC News his office is "interested in ensuring value for money as it relates to government spending."
"We have been considering an audit of the travel nurse contracts for some time." he said in an emailed statement. "The timing is right given the noted interest to the public and the availability of our resources to complete the audit."
Premier, union called for investigation
Last week, Premier Blaine Higgs called for the auditor general to investigate Vitalité and Horizon's spending on travel nurses, saying the government needs to be prudent in spending to get the best value for taxpayers.
"And this is a situation where it seems like we could have got better value," he said.
The New Brunswick Nurses Union and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions have sent three joint requests for an audit since last April. The most recent request was submitted last week, after a Globe and Mail investigation found agencies such as Toronto-based Canadian Health Labs have charged rates of more than $300 an hour — roughly six times what a local staff nurse earns.
Vitalité alone spent about $158 million to hire out-of-province nurses in 2022-23, contracts obtained by the national newspaper revealed.
Vitalité's
third contract with Canadian Health Labs, which continues until
February 2026, with a cap of $93 million, effectively charges the
regional health authority $306.70 an hour per travel nurse, according to
the Globe and Mail. (Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock)
Deputy health minister Eric Beaulieu told a legislative committee the government was aware of Vitalité's first contract, which was worth up to $20 million. It was informed of the other two after the fact, late in the 2022-23 fiscal year, he said.
Vitalité CEO Dr. France Desrosiers has defended the spending, saying the staffing situation was "critical" because of the departures and early retirements during the COVID-19 pandemic — "to the point where we were facing imminent emergency department and even facility closures."
The regional health authority had no choice but to resort to travel nurses, she said.
The audit will consider issues related to procurement, oversight, internal controls and overall value for money, according to the news release.
About transparency, accountability
Paula Doucet, president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, who learned of the audit through the news release, said she's "happy to hear [Martin] is acting upon our request."
It's about transparency and accountability for New Brunswickers, she said.
"I think with what the Globe and Mail has uncovered in relation to the actual costs and the expenditures of taxpayer dollars, particularly what Vitalité has signed on with Canadian Health Labs, has really brought to the surface just how much is unknown about these private, for-profit nurse agencies and where our tax dollars are going," she said.
"So I think the important thing for the auditor general to do is to find out, you know, exactly where the money's going, how much of it is going there."
The New Brunswick Nurses Union has sent three requests for an audit in
recent months, said president Paula Doucet. (Daniel St Louis/New
Brunswick Nurses Union)
Doucet hopes the audit will open a broader discussion about where taxpayer dollars are being spent and invested in health care.
"We for a long time have said they need to be here in New Brunswick — invested in New Brunswick workers, invested in New Brunswick infrastructure. And right now there's millions and millions of dollars that are going outside of this province.
"That is not for an economic spinoff for us. And when we have a premier that often talks about return for investment — he's getting no return on this investment, currently."
No timeline
Martin told CBC on Wednesday afternoon that his audit work has already begun. He did not say when.
The audit may involve interviews, review of documents, and various forms of data collection and analysis, according to the release.
"I look forward to reporting on our findings and recommendations upon completion of our audit," Martin said.
He did not respond to questions about how long the audit is expected to take.
Must not exceed mandate, powers, says Vitalité
Vitalité will offer its collaboration on the audit, an unidentified spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
"However, this collaboration must take place within a framework that does not exceed the mandate and powers of the auditor.
"It must ensure compliance with fundamental legal principles, relevant legislative provisions, legal privileges of the network essential to the exercise of its functions, and not harm the organization's ability to provide essential health services to the population."
Horizon and the Department of Health and social development did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
102 Comments
Reply to Don Corey
pay the travel nurses
pay your regular nurses overtime
or reallocate the work so that nurses are only working on those tasks that are defined under the health professions act
Ditto
Wednesday 6 December 2023
N.B. nurses union seeks end of use of travel nurses, cites 'astounding' $57M cost
N.B. nurses union seeks end of use of travel nurses, cites 'astounding' $57M cost
Horizon will stop using temporary agency nurses by end of March, Vitalité plans phase out by winter 2026
Instead, the government should invest in the retention of New Brunswick nurses and the recruitment of nurses who will work and live in the province, said president Paula Doucet.
"Invest in New Brunswick, invest in New Brunswickers, and invest in New Brunswick nurses. And then maybe we would have a better health-care system for all," she said.
Horizon Health Network will stop using the temporary nurses from private agencies before the union's deadline, according to Greg Doiron, vice-president of clinical services.
"The majority of these contracts will expire at the end of [this month], while critical areas such as [emergency departments, intensive care units] and surgical units will continue through to the end of March 2024 to ensure the continued stability of these vital services," he said in an emailed statement.
Meanwhile Vitalité Health Network is "well positioned to phase out the use of agencies by winter 2026," said spokesperson Anthony Doiron.
"A gradual reduction in agency services is planned, but it would be irresponsible as a health-care organization to phase them out completely at this time, given the immediate needs to be met," he said in an emailed statement.
Doucet
said ending the use of travel nurses should be a priority to ensure New
Brunswick has 'safe, quality health care delivered by nurses who are
well oriented [and] well supported.' (CBC)
Doucet described Horizon's goal as "lofty" and worries about the feasibility of Vitalité's target, given its heavy reliance on travel nurses in some regions. She cited as an example the Campbellton Regional Hospital, where agency nurses logged more than 68,000 hours between April and August.
Department of Health spokesperson Sean Hatchard noted travel nurses are contracted by the regional health authorities (RHAs), not the province, and said they're only used when no other nurses are available.
But he said the department will review Nova Scotia's decision this week to limit its use of travel nurses and discuss the issue with the RHAs.
The department is working with the health authorities, the Nurses Association of New Brunswick and other recruitment partners to fill nursing positions as quickly as possible, and has seen some progress, with a net increase of 113 registered nurses in the past seven months, said Hatchard.
He did not clarify whether those are full-time, part-time or temporary positions. Nor did he say how many positions remain vacant.
The government has also taken steps to train more nurses in the province, with the number of students jumping to nearly 1,300 last year, from 888 in 2018, Hatchard said.
Horizon spending jumps fourfold
Between April 1 and Aug. 31, 2023, Horizon spent nearly $23 million on contracts with private companies that supply temporary travel nurses, according to figures obtained by CBC and separately by the union through a Right to Information request.
That's up from about $5 million in 2022-23, the figures show.
Vitalité spent about $34 million between April and August, plus just over $19 million during the previous eight months.
Paid three times or more the N.B. hourly wage
Union leaders say they're appalled by the ballooning expenditures.
It works out to an average cost of $142 per hour, according to Doucet. When expenses such as travel, accommodations and registration fees are included, it jumps to around $300 per hour, she said, but could not immediately detail the formula used.
By comparison, an average hourly wage for a "mid-career" New Brunswick nurse, working six years at "top salary," is $45.67 per hour — one of the lowest paid in the country, after Quebec, she said.
"For a government that is focused on 'value for money,' paying travel nurses three times what a salaried New Brunswick nurse earns makes no sense," said Doucet.
It also makes New Brunswick nurses feel disrespected and devalued, she said.
"The use of travel nurse agencies has to stop."
Doucet noted Finance Minister Ernie Steeves recently announced the $199.6-million budget surplus he was projecting just a couple of months ago has mostly evaporated, largely because health spending is now projected to reach $3.75 billion by the end of March, $162 million over its original allotment.
"Why is it over budget? Here's your data and your proof that they're spending hand-over-fist money, taking out of this province," she said, referring to many of the private, for-profit travel nurse companies being in Ontario or out West.
The union submitted the data request, she said, after hearing from members at its annual general meeting in October that increasing numbers of travel nurses were coming into hospitals across the province.
'Far from ideal,' says Horizon official
Horizon began using travel nurses in October 2022 "as an essential means to ensure continued delivery of safe care," said Greg Doiron, vice-president of clinical services.
He noted health-care organizations across Canada are using them to maintain critical nursing services.
"Although far from ideal, the use of private agency nurses has saved lives and their efforts have helped our health-care system to get through an unprecedented time," he said.
The costs, which include salary, registration and expenses, have escalated significantly, Doiron acknowledged.
"This is mostly due to critical nursing shortages in areas like our emergency departments, ICUs and surgical units," he said, without defining "critical," or providing the number of vacant positions.
Greg Doiron, vice-president of clinical services for Horizon, said the
use of travel nurses has been 'a necessary measure.' (Government of New
Brunswick/Zoom)
Doiron did say Horizon has undertaken "aggressive nursing recruitment strategies which are generating very positive and very real results," with a net gain of 207 registered nurses since April 1, plus 103 internationally educated nurses hired, he said.
According to figures from the Department of Health, Horizon has hired 359 registered nurses since April 1, and Vitalité, 141, for a provincial total of 500.
Of those, 319 are permanent and 181 are temporary/casual, the department spokesperson said.
During that same period, Horizon and Vitalité lost 387 registered nurses, including 192 in permanent positions and 195 in temporary/casual roles, he said.
Vitalité has strategies to 'wean' off
Vitalité's decision to "resort to agency personnel to deal with hospital staffing shortages was taken after a thorough review of health and patient safety risk requirements," said spokesperson Anthony Doiron.
"The use of agency workers is a temporary but necessary measure that has allowed us to save lives, provide relief to our workforce, and reduce the exhaustion of our teams and turnover," he said.
"Numerous strategies are in place to wean ourselves off this need." Doiron did not provide any details, but did say Vitalité's efforts to recruit and retain health-care workers is "already bearing fruit."
N.S. to limit use of travel nurses
The Nova Scotia government is taking steps to end its reliance on private nursing agencies by limiting the amount of time someone employed as a travel nurse can work in the province.
Health Minister Michelle Thompson told CBC Monday that her government decided the money could be better spent on people who are a part of the public system and that the use of agency nurses works against efforts to fill the more than 1,000 vacancies in Nova Scotia.
Under the terms of the policy change, anyone who works in the province as an agency nurse can only work for 180 days before having to wait a year before working there again. Graduates of Nova Scotia nursing schools will not be allowed to work in the province as a travel nurse during their first year after graduation.
Earlier this year the Quebec government passed a bill that will limit the use of health-care staffing agencies, with a goal of banning hospitals from using them by the end of 2025.
New Brunswickers deserve good quality health care, they deserve publicly funded health care, and they deserve for their government to be prudent with taxpayers' money.
— Paula Doucet, New Brunswick Nurses Union president
Doucet said New Brunswick is currently "in the eye of the storm" and even relies on the use of travel nurses to keep some hospitals open after failing to heed years of warnings about the need to educate, hire and retain more.
But the union has set a deadline of the end of 2025 to end their use.
The government should focus on supporting registered nurses who want to become nurse practitioners so they don't have to work full-time and study at the same time, and making Bachelor of Nursing and licensed practical nurse courses more accessible and affordable, said Doucet.
Travel nurses were never intended to help keep emergency departments open in urban centres, she said. They were intended to ensure remote communities had access to health care.
"New Brunswickers deserve good quality health care, they deserve publicly funded health care, and they deserve for their government to be prudent with taxpayers' money as they provide the services the people of the province need."
With files from Information Morning Fredericton
Enough said
If we don't have enough money to pay for all these services, just raise our taxes so we have less, what is wrong with that, taxes good, having money in our pocket, bad.