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VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFO www.robertchisholm.net All press releases, statements and
platforms are on the website.
News Release
July 5, 1999
IT'S TIME TO INVEST IN FRONT-LINE HEALTH CARE, CHISHOLM SAYS
Halifax - NDP Leader Robert Chisholm says it's time to invest in front line
health care.
The NDP Leader today released his party's platform paper on health, the
third of five papers to be released during the campaign.
"An NDP government will invest in front-line health care and begin
rebuilding our health care system from the ground up," said Chisholm.
He said the NDP will act immediately to:
* ensure every Nova Scotian can have a family doctor;
* add 600 more nurses
* emphasize patient care, not paper work, for all health care workers.
Chisholm said the first 200 of the planned 600 new nursing positions will be
added in the first year of an NDP mandate.
The NDP will work with doctors' organizations and the Dalhousie Medical
School to establish up to 40 pilot project practices to deal with the chronic
shortage of family doctors in rural Nova Scotia.
An NDP government will also work with community Health boards to finalize
legislation that will bring health care decisions closer to the front line and
eliminate paper work.
Chisholm said the first-year cost of his party's plan is $17.3 million, to be paid
for "primarily through re-allocation within the health budget, and improved
financial controls."
"The shift to front-line care will mean more and better emphasis on primary
care, health promotion and preventive health, and community-based care."
Chisholm said that starting in the first year and continuing as other funds are
identified and reallocated, an NDP government will also:
* modernize standards and co-ordination of long-term care;
* expand home care;
* improve and extend Pharmacare;
* support development of community health clinics.
"I know that good health matters, and that the effect of our health care plan
must be felt in the teen health clinics, in the community-based services and in
the homes where people are providing care out of love and compassion,"
said the NDP Leader.
-30-
Statement by Robert Chisholm, Leader
July 5, 1999
IT'S TIME TO INVEST IN FRONT-LINE HEALTH CARE
Today we are releasing the NDP platform paper on health, the third
of five.
The Tupper building was Nova Scotia's Centennial project. More
than a generation ago, people decided that the best way to express Nova
Scotians' hope for the future was a new home for the Medical School.
Thirty years ago, universal medical care was achieved despite
furious resistance. Today it is the crown jewel for Canadians and for Nova
Scotians. New Democrats want universal health care to be just as proud an
achievement for new generations of Nova Scotians. Yet today, few of the
graduates of this school go on to practice family medicine in Nova Scotia.
It's time to invest in front-line health care.
Nova Scotians experience the Liberal and Tory record on health
care whenever someone tries to find a family doctor, whenever a nurse can't
spend enough time with patients, whenever a family struggles to provide
home care for a loved one.
The record of past governments is evident: no plan, outrageous
neglect, broken promises and heartless hacking.
It is time to move forward. It's time to restore confidence in Nova
Scotia health care. We have been listening to communities. We have been
working closely with health providers in every corner of the province, and
carefully considering the advice of the major health organizations.
An NDP government will focus its attention on front-line health care
and on the many community-based, preventive care models that mean a
healthier Nova Scotia. An NDP government will invest in front-line health care
and begin re-building our health care system from the ground up. An NDP
government will act immediately to:
1. Ensure every Nova Scotian can have a family doctor
2. Add 600 more nurses
3. Emphasize patient care, not paper work, for all health care workers
The cost of our commitments is $17.3 million. They will be paid for
primarily through re-allocation within the health budget, and improved financial
controls. To put this in context, the Health Department went over budget by
$260 million in the last two years combined.
Action on these three commitments will begin immediately, and will
be well under way during the first year of an NDP government.
For example, we will work closely with the Medical Society, the
Family Physicians and the Medical School to set up the pilot project practices
for 40 rural doctors. We will allocate the nursing positions immediately, based
on the needs that have already been identified in hospitals, nursing homes
and home care. We will be working with Community Health Boards within
weeks to finalize the new Community Health Boards Act, to bring decisions
much closer to the front line and eliminate paper work.
Health care is a complex system. The determinants of health are
also important. As the platform explains, the shift to front-line care will mean
more and better emphasis on primary care, health promotion and preventive
health, and community-based care.
Starting in the first year and continuing as other funds are identified
and reallocated, an NDP government will also:
1. Modernize standards and coordination of long-term care
2. Expand home care
3. Improve and extend Pharmacare
4. Support development of community health clinics
Like my colleagues, I know that good health matters, and that the
effect of our health care plan must be felt in the teen health clinics, in the
community-based services and in the homes where people are providing care
out of love and compassion.
Good government is about listening, learning and leading. It is
about setting goals and priorities consistent with the needs of people and their
communities, without ever forgetting that each decision, each policy, has an
effect on people's lives.
Ordinary Nova Scotians want a government that will make the best
use of the individual strengths of all our communities. Nova Scotians want a
future with strong healthy communities. It's time to set and achieve clear
health goals for Nova Scotians. It's time to invest in front-line health care. It's
time.
-30-
For more information call: Ron Sherrard 478-2032 (Cell)
Shawn Fuller 471-1121 (Cell)
Linda D. Norman
Communications Assistant
NDP Caucus
424-4056 (Ph) 424-0504 (fax)
email: normanlp@gov.ns.ca
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