An urgent-care clinic in St. John's has hit a stumbling block, because every bid was too high

Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services has cancelled its request-for-proposals process for a new urgent-care clinic in St. John's because all bids were significantly over budget, says Health Minister Tom Osborne.

The provincial government issued the RFP in mid-March, with the goal of opening a new clinic by May 2024 that would provide care to patients with "unexpected, non-life-threatening concerns," Osborne said in March.

The goal of the clinic is to alleviate pressure on the city's emergency rooms, where many patients go for primary care. 

At a news conference Tuesday, Osborne said the province's health authority has "gone back to the drawing board" and will be reissuing a tender for an urgent-care clinic.

He said the government still aims to open a clinic by next spring.

"The RFP was considerably higher than the budget allotted," Osborne told reporters Tuesday. 

"It'll certainly be established in 2024, and the aim is to maintain the timelines that we've set out to establish the urgent care."

Seven groups submit proposals

Seven groups submitted proposals, including Marco Group, the Newfoundland & Labrador Health Alliance and Bristol Development Inc.

When asked what changes would be made to the new RFP process to lower costs, Osborne said, "I think we have to wait," aadding he's not involved in the RFP process. 

An urgent-care clinic would offer a middle ground between the hospital ERs and primary-care providers, Osborne said in March.

It's a place where patients can receive treatment for medical issues that aren't emergencies but still require immediate attention.

The goal, said Osborne, is for the St. John's urgent-care clinic to operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week, serving about 36,500 people per year.

At a technical briefing in March, officials said the facility will cost $900,000 to open and that the provincial government is looking to rent an existing building for the 20,000-square-foot facility.

Progressive Conservative health critic Paul Dinn said it's unlikely the project will be completed by early 2024.

While an urgent-care clinic seems great in theory, he said, it may not be as successful in practice.

He pointed to the province's first urgent-care clinic in Whitbourne, which is open only three days a week, and which replaced the town's 24/7 emergency department.

The first question that came to mind, he said, was why the RFP was cancelled and whether a lack of foresight led to such a decision.

"You start to wonder, 'OK, what was missed in it?' or 'What should've been in it?' and we don't know that," said Dinn.

"At the end of the day, those who are suffering are still those individuals who are sitting in the hallways of the emergency centres still waiting to get care. So they're delayed again."

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