January 28, 2020
Green Party MLAs applaud Minister of Health’s announcement for more nurse practitioners
Fredericton – Green Party Leader and MLA for Fredericton-South, David Coon, and Green Health Critic and MLA for Memramcook-Tantramar welcome Minister Flemming’s announcement for 32 new nurse practitioner positions in New Brunswick.
One of the priorities for the Green caucus this session was to improve access to primary health care, and all three MLAs have spoken in the Legislature about the important role that nurse practitioners can play in our province. The issue was also raised at meetings with Minister Flemming and Premier Higgs.
“Nurse practitioners can play a vital role in improving access to primary health care and to taking the pressure off emergency rooms in New Brunswick. I am very pleased that Minister Flemming announced that 32 NPs will be hired across the province,” says Mitton. “I’ve said that we didn’t need more pilot projects, we need more NPs, and I’m glad that the Minister of Health has listened.”
“This is a positive initiative to get 18,000 people off the waitlist for a primary healthcare provider and reduce wait times in ERs,” says Coon. “For years, I have been pushing to hire nurse practitioners as a way to improve access to primary health care. In our platform we committed to hiring a similar number of NPs. Kudos to Health Minister Flemming on taking meaningful action. We are on the same page on this one.”
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