The PC’s kicked off the first day on the campaign trail with a $46-million promise for a wide swath of health care initiatives.

Leader Tony Wakeham says, if elected, he promises to adopt the Registered Nurses Union pilot nursing locum program – first introduced in Labrador – to other rural and underserved areas of the province.

Wakeham also promised an overhaul of the recruitment system, adding more nursing seats at MUN and offering full-time jobs to students in the early years of their nursing program.

He says his party would use the $240-million spent on private agency nurses to cover the costs of expanding nursing staff.

“We’re going to start by offering people full-time jobs when they enter their programs, not when they exit their programs. So we start working with them right from day one,” he told reporters.”

“Then we line up and find out who wants to work where. And by offering everyone a full-time job when they graduate, by offering that at the beginning of their programs and identifying areas where the need exists, that’s how we’ll find (where the needs are).”

He’s also vowing to purchase and staff four new MRI machines, to be located in Labrador, Grand Falls-Windsor, the Burin Peninsula and a fourth location, “based on need.”