After two years of requests, the premiers are finally getting their meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss an increase to federal health transfers to the provinces.
Premier Andrew Furey is meeting with his counterparts in Ottawa to hammer out a new health care deal, but what that will look like and how it will work, remains to be seen.
He says there’s already been some talk about bilateral agreements and shared priorities and that’s something they’re willing to discuss further.
The Opposition wants the new deal to be tailor-made for Newfoundland and Labrador to reflect our unique geographic, demographic and health care challenges. Furey says he’s already had the opportunity to raise those concerns. and he’s hoping they were heard and that the negotiations will allow for flexibility.
Previous health care funding arrangements have been done on a per-capita basis, but Brazil says this deal must look different.
He says Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest population density, the highest median age, and some of the highest rates of chronic disease in the country.
The interim NDP Leader is also weighing in on the talks. Jim Dinn says long-term care should be top of mind heading into the meeting, with more funding needed to deal with staff shortages and keeping people at home longer.
Dinn says retention issues must be addressed as many staff deal with increased stress and burnout. He says it’s time to strengthen the public health sector and regain confidence of industry workers.
