Health minister reveals $100M long-term care investment, cancelled cataract appointments at town hall
CBC
About 125 people came out for a town hall meeting on health care in Charlottetown Monday night.
At the Liberal-sponsored event, Health and Wellness Minister Cory Deagle made two major health-care announcements.
Deagle told the crowd the province is set to announce that it is adding 200 private long-term care beds. That will cost about $100 million.
Deagle said that should help free up badly needed hospital beds that are currently tied up with people who are not sick, but are waiting for a long-term care bed.
Those beds should be ready in the next 18 to 24 months, he said.
“The private sector can move much faster than government can,” said Deagle.
The meeting, which organizers moved to a larger venue that could hold up to 450 people, was held at a time when health care on the Island is facing significant upheaval.
Last week, Melanie Fraser left her role as CEO of Health P.E.I., and Laurae Kloschinsky was appointed interim CEO. The leadership shakeup followed a letter signed by 93 family doctors sent to the premier and health minister, saying they'd lost confidence in Fraser's leadership.
Deagle also confirmed that the private cataract clinic in Charlottetown has cancelled all of its appointments for the month of March because it has run out of money.
The clinic is private but funded by the provincial government. The new provincial budget doesn’t start until April 1.
Deagle called the situation “ridiculous.”
“I said, ‘Are you kidding me? … Well, start booking the damn things’ because there’s no reason that you should have to wait when we have operating rooms sitting empty,” Deagle told a woman whose loved one has been waiting months for surgery.
“So, I’ve told them to start booking again … We’ll try and maybe get you in early April because you shouldn’t have to wait that long.”
Deagle’s comments drew an immediate reaction from the crowd, with some attendees calling out, “that’s political.”
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