The Association of Allied Health Professionals says working conditions are behind an exodus of respiratory therapists from the province in recent months.

Six respiratory therapists have left the profession in NL since September, after struggling through difficult working conditions that have only gotten worse since the pandemic according to AAHP President Gordon Piercey.

He says their lived experience is “horrible on a good day and intolerable on a bad day.” He told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly that things were tough before COVID-19 which is a respiratory illness, and working conditions have only gotten worse.

Respiratory therapists perform work in community care, acute care, critical care and post-op care. Piercey says in an ideal situation and with a full complement of staff, respiratory therapists work across the entire spectrum of health care.

Unfortunately, they’re so strapped that all their efforts are being concentrated on the “must-haves” and the scary part he says is that they’re at a dangerous point where they may not be able to do the “must-haves.”