The Association of Allied Health Professions is warning of a “rapidly escalating crisis” caused by what it calls severe staffing shortages among pharmacists in the public sector.
AAHP says based on available information, pharmacist vacancy rates in the public sector have grown and are now approaching 20 per cent across the province.
The union says the situation is even worse on a regional and community level, especially in rural areas.
The union says vacancy rates range from 40 per cent to as high as 75 per cent in some hospitals.
AAHP President Gordon Piercey (VOCM)
Association President Gord Piercey says those shortages are not manageable and that the system is under “significant strain.”
He says the private sector is offering “dramatically higher wages, signing bonuses and incentives,” and the public system is unable to compete.
He says wage rates for hospital pharmacists in this province also lag behind their counterparts in the rest of Atlantic Canada.
