CORNER BROOK, N.L. — The provincial PC Party has already committed to putting a PET scanner in the new regional hospital being constructed in Corner Brook, but on Tuesday they upped the ante with a promise it would be there on Day 1 when the facility opens.
PC Leader Ches Crosbie made the promise standing in the parking lot of Corner Brook’s new long-term care home with the construction site for the hospital in the background.
He was surrounded by PC candidates from the western region for the announcement which is in contrast to a Liberal assertion that they will also put the PET scanner in the hospital — but only when it’s deemed necessary by doctors.
Crosbie said people of the region are worried and Moya Greene’s report will give Premier Andrew Furey a blueprint for how to roll back the Liberal commitment for the PET scanner.
In a news release issued with Robyn LeGrow, the PC candidate for St. John’s Centre, he called for Furey to allow members of the Premier’s Economic Recovery Team to speak freely about the contents of the report if he won’t release it before the election.
In Corner Brook Crosbie said it’s time to get straight with people on the PET scanner issue and “a promise is a promise.”
And he reaffirmed that a PC government lead by him will deliver a PET scanner to the hospital when it opens.
“Not maybe, or perhaps, or possibly some time down the road, but a firm ‘yes right at the time of opening’, assuming the medical personnel are ready to receive it.”
Under a Liberal government, there will NOT be a PET scanner in the new Western Regional Hospital. Not when it opens....
Posted by Ches Crosbie on Tuesday, January 26, 2021
With two years before construction is completed, Crosbie said he’s optimistic that will be the case.
“It will take some time after construction to commission the hospital, but rest assured when the first patient walks through these doors they will have access to a PET scanner.”
There has been an argument that two PET scanners are not needed in the province because it does not have the population to require two. There is one currently in St. John’s.
“It’s not just a matter of numbers, and there are various factors that are unique to Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Crosbie. “So, personally, I’m not sure that statistics drawn from the rest of North America are exactly apt here.”
"... rest assured when the first patient walks through these doors they will have access to a PET scanner.” — Ches Crosbie
Right before the election call, the Liberal Party set aside $2 million in trust for a PET scanner.
It is something Crosbie called “a gimmick” heading into the election to try and convince people that they will follow through on the PET scanner.
If more money is needed, Crosbie said it’s his understanding there is a considerable sum of money in the budget for equipment and it covers the scanner.
More health-care promises
Later in the day, Crosbie stopped at the campaign headquarters for Corner Brook candidate Tom Stewart where he made some more far-reaching health-care commitments.
He said a PC government that he leads will take a new approach, a true partnership with professionals and take the advice of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) to create a province-wide program of primary health-care teams.
With 90,000 people in the province without a family doctor, he said the PCs would also heed the NLMA’s advice to set two specific goals — to reduce the proportion of unattached patients to five per cent and to retain 75 per cent of Memorial University medical graduates who pursue family medicine.
Sometimes you have to take a minute, to take a look.
— Ches Crosbie (@ChesCrosbie) January 26, 2021
Western Newfoundland, and our entire province will be well-represented under a PC government. Healthcare and rural services are two of our key priorities.
Let’s get to work!#NLpoli #BringBackJobs #LetsGetToWork #PCNL pic.twitter.com/I6RGXwo4uI
The PCs new health-care team model, he said, will provide residents with access to family physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists, occupational therapists and dietitians.
To retain graduates the PCs plan is to provide attractive reimbursement and taxation packages for those who choose to practice in the province, especially in rural areas.
“We need to sit down with all the participants in the system, including patient advocates, and see what it is that’s not working,” he said.
The party will also expand virtual care, but to do that it will need to improve technology and internet services.
Crosbie said the PC party is committed to a 98 per cent coverage for high-speed internet all around the province by the year 2024.
St. George’s-Humber candidate Gary Bishop said, as the mayor and a councillor in Pasadena for almost 20 years, the issue he hears the most about is timely access to health care. He said Crosbie has addressed many of those concerns.
Bishop said the need for more family doctors is urgent on the west coast.
Diane Crocker reports on west coast news.
[email protected] | @WS_DianeCrocker
