Sask. NDP calls out province over cost of travel nurses
The Saskatchewan NDP is criticizing the provincial government for its heavy reliance on expensive travel nurses. They argue that the millions spent on temporary staffing could be better utilized to provide full-time contracts for local nurses and improve healthcare delivery.
Why it matters
This highlights a growing tension in public healthcare systems regarding fiscal management and labor stability in the face of staffing shortages.
Jorgenson said the province is “overutilizing” travel nurses and “wasting millions and millions of taxpayers’ dollars in the process.”
While acknowledging the important part travel nurses play in the health-care system when it comes to covering short-term positions and staffing needs, Jorgenson said it could take a toll on Saskatchewan’s nurses to be working alongside travel nurses being paid significantly more to do comparable work.
“We have travel nurses working in communities alongside nurses in the same facilities that are forced to work on part-time, short-term contracts, and these nurses are struggling to survive,” Jorgenson said, calling that concept “incompetence.”
The MLA said the issue stems from a lack of planning and the high cost of travel nurses.
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