Private health options in Nova Scotia would strengthen public system: premier
Nova Scotia's government is considering private health-care options but remains committed to strengthening the public system, Premier Tim Houston said Wednesday.
Any private option would be integrated within the public system, Houston told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
"We're committed to strengthening the public system for sure," Houston said. "I'm not interested in Nova Scotians using their credit card to pay for health care."
Nova Scotia's health system -- similar to the health systems across Canada -- is under significant stress due to labour shortages, which are leading to cutbacks in services and intermittent closures of emergency rooms. Houston promised during last summer's election campaign to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in his first year in office to address the problems.
The premier wasn't specific about private options but said that all of them will be considered. He noted that the province has been using a private clinic in the Halifax area -- Scotia Surgery Inc. -- to perform elective day surgeries since 2008. The clinic has been utilized by governments of all political stripes, including the NDP and Liberals, Houston said.
"There's no favouritism in who gets to go there, and people have went there and gotten surgeries and used their MSI card (provincial insurance) to pay for that," Houston said.
Nova Scotia also pays for dental and cataract surgeries at specialized private clinics.
"The main goal has to be getting people access to the care that they need," Houston said. "We'll mobilize every ounce of resource that we can muster. I'm not really interested or distracted by the fearmongering that takes place."
Houston met Monday with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the premiers of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to discuss challenges in the health system. The premiers offered few specifics but said Canada's leaders need to come together to create a plan to reduce the emergency wait times and surgery backlogs plaguing the system.
In a plan announced earlier this month, the Ontario government said it would increase the number of surgeries in pediatric hospitals and existing private clinics covered by provincial insurance. Ford's government also wants to boost surgical capacity by increasing the number of procedures in "independent health facilities."
In Nova Scotia, the opposition Liberals and NDP are skeptical about the expansion of the private sector into health care.
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill, who had a short stint as provincial health minister under former premier Iain Rankin, said he isn't impressed by Houston's commitment to protect the private system. Churchill said one of the biggest issues facing the health system is a shortage of labour.
"If you create a private health-care delivery system, undoubtedly I believe that is going to siphon more staff out of our public health-care system," he said. The resulting staff shortage in the public system, he added, would create even greater waits in emergency rooms and for surgeries.
"I think you're creating a very big risk," Churchill said.
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said many private clinics currently in operation rely primarily on nurses -- who are in particular short supply.
"As nurses have more flexibility, potentially more money and probably less stress working in a private system," Chender said, "it stands to reason that they might do that and that directly impacts the provision of public health care."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 24, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.