Initiatives Aim to Improve Primary Care Access in Newfoundland and Labrador

  • Health and Community Services

October 18, 2021

With a goal of continuing to help meet the health care needs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, the Provincial Government today announced a number of immediate and interim steps to improve access to primary health care in Newfoundland and Labrador, while the important work of Health Accord NL to reimagine the system continues.

To help address the current challenges until the recommendations of the Accord are finalized, the following measures will be implemented:

  • Creation of two new Collaborative Team Clinics in the metro region to complement the existing clinic on Mundy Pond Road which will be moving to Pippy Place in St. John’s;
  • Establishment of at least one new Collaborative Team Clinic in each of the Central and Western Health regions before the end of March 2022 to supplement the team-based care that is already being provided in those regions;
  • Issuance of a Request for Proposals for development of a Health Human Resource Plan;
  • Establishment of a Provincial Health Professional Recruitment and Retention Office;
  • Two pilot projects to attract more new medical graduates to family practice:
    • Financial support for new family doctors who open a new clinic or join an established clinic in the first two years of practice that will ensure their income will be equivalent to a salaried physician; and,
    • Up to $100,000 to new family practice physicians who open a new family practice clinic or join an existing family practice and stay for five years; an
  • Increase in virtual care services to assist with the provision of urgent care;
  • Commitment to further increase the number of graduates from Licensed Practical Nursing Programs by 40 per cent, and Personal Care Attendant Programs by 20 per cent;
  • Commitment to increase Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program seats by 25 per cent;
  • Offering of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Gander, and Grand Falls-Windsor, beginning September 2022, through the implementation of a rural program with remote teaching; and,
  • Facilitate immigration pathways for international health profession graduates.

Further details on these measrures can be found online here.

The initiatives announced today, combined with the recent announcement on paramedicine, support for our existing bursary programs and funding for the Family Physician Renewal Program, equate to an investment of approximately $30 million annually.

Health Accord NL was created in November 2020 to reimagine the health care system to best deliver services to meet the needs of people in communities throughout the province. It is mandated to deliver a 10-Year Health Accord with short, medium, and long-term goals for a health care system that better meets the needs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The new initiatives announced today will serve as a foundation upon which to build the recommendations from the Health Accord.

Quote
“These are significant actions we are taking to address the current challenges associated with access to primary health care. Our focus remains on the continuous improvement of a health care system to support better health outcomes for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honourable John Haggie
Minister of Health and Community Services

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Media contact
Nancy Hollett
Health and Community Services
709-729-6554, 327-7878
nancyhollett@gov.nl.ca

2021 10 18 12:20 pm