

Newfoundland and Labrador has to reduce the number of hospitals to help reduce health care costs.

That was the message delivered to the Newfoundland government by former Saskatchewan Finance Minister Dr. Janice MacKinnon.

MacKinnon served in Roy Romanow’s NDP government of the 1990s when the province was facing a dire financial crisis. Saskatchewan’s debt was so bad at the time and its credit ratings so low, that it could no longer borrow.

MacKinnon says the province needs to take control of its fiscal situation, before it’s too late and the decisions are made for us.

Sooner, Rather Than Later

While Newfoundland is “not there yet” according to MacKinnon, it is still facing a very serious fiscal situation. She recommends that government deal with it sooner rather than later, allowing for changes to the delivery of services rather than “broad, dramatic cuts.”

Newfoundland and Labrador spends $1,000 more per capita on health care than the Canadian average. MacKinnon suggests that the province rely less on hospitals to reduce costs.

She says the province has 31 acute care hospitals, a lot for a province of this population. In Saskatchewan they use long-term care facilities, clinics and home care to deliver many of those services.