Paramedics in central Labrador say they're quitting because of the heavy workload

As Newfoundland and Labrador struggles to retain health-care professionals, two paramedics in Happy Valley-Goose Bay are no longer full-time employees.

They say long hours meant no work-life balance, so they left — and statistics obtained by CBC News show the extent of the problem.

Their union says the situation is not sustainable, and it's having an impact on the quality of service provided to patients.

Cody Lucente moved to Happy Valley-Goose Bay in 2016 for a full-time job as a paramedic.

But he left this summer because the workload at the Labrador Health Centre was too much to handle.

"The hospital did own you. You had no time for extracurriculars, family, pets, nothing," Lucente told CBC News in a recent interview.

"People think that because we're in Labrador, we're a small town and you know, who cares? You probably have one call a day, and you can spend the rest of the time sleeping, but [it's] not true. We're actually a very high-call service."

According to Lucente, the Labrador Health Centre averaged about 4,000 calls a year during his time there. 

He says a lack of resources and overworked employees are combining to drive down health-care standards.

"Your quality of work does go down, as much as you don't want to admit it," he said. "We do try our best. Sometimes when you're that tired, you just can't."

And he's afraid things will get worse.

"It's going to be harder to find new medics," he said. "The only way for us to succeed is [through] retention and better management."

Thousands of hours of overtime recorded

Documents obtained by CBC News through an access-to-information request show that paramedics have been working around the clock.

During the 2021-22 fiscal year, six of them clocked in more than 1,000 hours of overtime each. One paramedic was averaging approximately 33 hours of overtime per week.

Another was punching in more than 100 hours on the job every week, between regular, overtime and standby shifts

Lucente says that the workload would frequently burn out new employees, leading to a high rate of turnover.

"For most people, they would show up and they would love the money and then quit six months later when they're burnt out, and we were a revolving door," he said.

"So except for the three or four of us that stayed, everyone else was in and out monthly."

Labrador-Grenfell Health currently has eight job postings for paramedics in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Choosing between family and work

Lucente says he often had to make a choice between working and spending time with his family.

"There's one Christmas where I worked a 24-hour shift in the hospital [and] had 12 hours off for the evening of Christmas Eve. And then had to work 36 hours through Christmas and through Boxing Day in the hospital."

He saw colleagues leave full-time work in the profession after becoming parents.

Brittany Elliott was one of them.

After moving to Labrador to work as a paramedic a decade ago, Elliott found herself unable to commit to the schedule expected of her.

According to Elliott, a normal shift would last 12 hours, and paramedics were often expected to take up additional shifts — leading to employees working for 24-hour stretches at a time.

She was unable to find overnight child care during those longer shifts, leading to her having to resign as a full-time employee.

"I need to be able to go home and be the best person that I can for my family and my kids," Elliott said. "I just didn't feel like I could do both."

The hours expected of employees are leading to a high rate of turnover at the Labrador Health Centre, she says.

Union concerns over working conditions

The union that represents the paramedics employed by Labrador-Grenfell Health contends that the lack of resources is leading to burnout and poorer quality of service.

"Data that I have seen is that the response times, for example, in Goose Bay and Sheshatshiu are not acceptable to national standards," said Jerry Earle, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees.

That means there are insufficient units available, he said.

"So you can imagine now if you're losing paramedics or you're relying on overtime, that impacts response times, and that's the key thing."

Earle — a former paramedic himself — says the situation is not sustainable.

"Most paramedics will tell you it is good work, it's rewarding work, and they love what they do, but they can't work the way they're expected to work in Goose Bay," he said.

The Department of Health steered interview requests to Labrador-Grenfell Health. The health authority did not make anyone available for an interview.

Elliott is considering moving out of Labrador. Lucente now works for an employer from Ontario, but praises Labrador, especially as a place for people who love the outdoors.

"The people were lovely, the place is lovely," Lucente said. "If you're into camping, it's ideal. It's amazing. I just couldn't handle it anymore."

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