Health minister says privatization 'not on the table' for P.E.I.

P.E.I.'s health minister says the province is not considering privatizing health care, a day after the premier spoke of the need for a "fundamentally different" way of getting people the services they need. 

Premier Dennis King and his counterparts from Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick met in Moncton on Monday to discuss how to address staffing shortages that have been plaguing Canada's health-care system.

The meeting happened just days after the Ontario government unveiled a plan that included funding more surgeries at private clinics, which prompted questions about whether the Maritime provinces could be moving in the same direction. 

King said after the summit ended that the delivery of health care across the country needs to be "fundamentally different." But P.E.I. Health Minister Ernie Hudson said Tuesday that the premier did not mean privatization.

"No, that is not on the table on the Island," Hudson said during an interview with CBC News: Compass.

Hudson said the premier was referring to "fundamental changes of scopes of practice" and better using health-care providers already in the system.

As examples, he cited work the province has already done by expanding the role of nurse practitioners and allowing pharmacists to deliver more vaccines and diagnose urinary tract infections. 

Island New Democrats concerned

"We already do have a little bit of privatization in our health-care system," with Medavie running P.E.I.'s ambulance service, Michelle Neill, leaders of the Island New Democrats, told Island Morning host Mitch Cormier Wednesday. "There's no way to keep them accountable ... they're looking for profits." 

Neill said she is concerned some surgical services could be privatized —as Ford is suggesting in Ontario — which she said might mean Islanders will have to pay more. 

She worries about eroding public health care and moving to a two-tier system where you can either pay for quality care or you can't. 

New international recruiter role

One of the priorities the premiers spoke of during their summit was speeding up the process of accrediting international doctors so that they can work in Canada. Hudson said that while the idea is not new, the state of the health-care system in 2022 means governments are considering it with a newfound sense of urgency. 

On P.E.I., Hudson said the government is creating a new position on the Department of Health and Wellness recruitment team that will focus solely on foreign-educated medical professionals.

"When you're looking at the challenges, the crisis that we have with regard to delivery of primary care, … it amplifies and reinforces that we have to take initiatives that yes, have been looked at before, but the importance is paramount now," he said.

Province hiring more medical professionals

Hudson did not provide a timeline for the rollout of new medical homes and neighbourhoods in the province, or estimate when emergency departments at Island hospitals might see relief from the short-staffing issues that have limited their opening hours this summer.

He did say the province has approved money for the hiring of an additional 11 nurse practitioners, five licensed practical nurses and five medical secretaries.

"We certainly do have to do better, as the premier had alluded to," he said. "[But] those are the types of things, certainly, that we are taking initiative on."