Registered nurses got a tour of the new mental health and addictions facility in St. John’s this week, and RNU President Yvette Coffey says while the new building is bright and beautiful, the space is not there to meet mental health care needs in the province.

Coffey says the new facility has 30 fewer beds than the old Waterford which it is replacing.

That, says Coffey, is a great concern “because the resources are not out there throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. We have a new facility in Goose Bay that they can’t even staff…they’re staffing it with agency nurses last I heard. I don’t even know if they’ve been able to fill permanent positions up there. It’s a nice space, but there’s not enough to meet the mandate of the province in my opinion.”

Coffey says the emphasis is on trying to move away from people living long-term at the facility, but she says there’s no room for mental health outpatient services.

“That was supposed to go to the Health Sciences inpatient unit, and that’s now on hold because they don’t even know where to put them.”