Healthcare was the focus as PC leader Tony Wakeham’s campaign tour made a stop in Lewisporte today.

Wakeham says the Lewisporte ER has been left without an in-person doctor several times in recent months, and a new family medicine clinic in the town sits empty because staff have not yet been recruited.

The Tory leader says, if elected, his government will hire more ER doctors, Registered Nurses, and Nurse Practitioners, and introduce programs focused on retaining them.

He says they will build an incentive program that will help cover the overhead costs for healthcare professionals.

The PCs will also adopt a recommendation from the Registered Nurses Union to implement a province-wide program to bring nurses to rural and remote areas.

As well, they have committed to adding 50 new spaces to the MUN School of Nursing, expanding the medical school, and doubling the Nurse Practitioner Program.