The Honourable John Haggie, Minister of Health and Community Services, met last week with Jerry Earle, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE) and his officials, Labour Relations Specialist, Vina Gould and Secretary-Treasurer, Trevor King.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss long-term care concerns including staff shortages, the inability to access leave, forced overtime, and working short. Ideas to address some of these challenges were discussed. The minister has agreed to follow up on the metrics suggested by the union at the meeting to better assess areas of concerns. These include data on staffing, scheduling and leave.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss recent changes to help recruitment and retention of licensed practical nurses and personal care attendants in long-term care, including new training sites and seats for both programs at College of the North Atlantic. Information on the new sites and seats can be found by following the link in the Learn More section below.

The work being done by two senior level steering committees was also discussed. Government and NAPE are represented on both of these committees. One committee is with advanced education stakeholders and the second committee is a joint working group led by NAPE and Eastern Health focused on developing solutions to address operational challenges in the regional health authorities.

Both parties have agreed to meet on a regular basis to ensure continued open dialogue and to work together on positive solutions for the short, medium and long-terms.

Quotes
“We are aware of the concerns about long-term care. These have been heightened even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. These issues are not only a topic of discussion here in Newfoundland and Labrador, but across the country by all ministers responsible for long-term care. Thank you to NAPE’s membership for the exceptional care and compassion provided to residents, particularly during the pandemic. Your kindness, especially when visitation was restricted, made a world of difference for residents and their families. We are always interested in finding ways we can work together with the unions, families and the regional health authorities to improve working conditions for staff. We appreciate NAPE’s openness to meet with us and look forward to finding solutions together. We owe it to the staff, residents and their families.”
Honourable John Haggie
Minister of Health and Community Services

“Front-line workers in long-term care have gone above and beyond in recent months to provide compassion, support, and high-quality healthcare to the residents in their care. We appreciated the opportunity to meet directly with Minister Haggie and officials from his department to discuss the multitude of concerns our members have about their working conditions. We welcome the Minister’s commitment to continue the dialogue and to work collaboratively to find solutions to the issues identified, which is in the best interest of all involved – residents, families, staff, and our society as a whole.”
Jerry Earle
President of NAPE

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Learn more
News Release: Premier Ball Announces New Health Sciences Programs for College of the North Atlantic

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Media contacts
Kathy Dicks-Peyton
Health and Community Services
709-729-6986, 699-1982
kathydickspeyton@gov.nl.ca

Keith Dunne
NAPE
709-570-2501, 631-9737
kdunne@nape.ca