Government hiring private company for vaccination clinic undermines public nurses, says union

The head of the union that represents registered nurses in Newfoundland and Labrador says the provincial government undermined public health care by hiring a private company to run an annual vaccination clinic at Confederation Building.

Yvette Coffey, president of the Registered Nurses' Union Newfoundland and Labrador, said Monday the clinic should have been operated by the provincial N.L. Health Services or retired nurses, who could have been used similarly to when they were brought out of retirement to help administer COVID-19 vaccines.

The hiring of a private company sends mixed messages to those in the health-care sector and residents of the province, she said.

"On one hand they're saying, 'We believe in the publicly funded, publicly delivered health-care system [and] we do not support privatization of our health care.' And then you turn around and give a contract to a private company to immunize government employees? We have community and public health services here," Coffey said.

"It is another expenditure using our taxpayers' money on a private agency whose bottom line is their main priority."

N.L. Health services offers vaccination clinics for the COVID-19 vaccine and influenza vaccine across the province by appointment, and doses can also be received at many pharmacies and physician clinics.

That's where government should have gone, said Coffey, who called the hiring of a private company fiscally irresponsible. She says the money should have gone into supporting health-care workers already in the system.

"Investing in the people who are actually working in the system, investing in our new graduates, or investing in trying to get expatriate Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to come back home — that's where we should be investing our money," Coffey said.

CBC News requested an interview on the matter with Health Minister Tom Osborne but instead received an emailed statement from Public Service Commission spokesperson Victoria Barber. The statement said the public health system is working to provide immunizations to the broader population and the provincial government wanted to ensure vaccinations were available to public service employees and their families.

"We respect health-care professionals in Newfoundland and Labrador and we are always mindful when we seek their help," the statement said.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.