Healthcare was the focus of a rally held in front of Bruce Fitch’s office in Riverview today.

The New Brunswick Coalition on Health says privatization will create an even bigger worker shortage in the public system.

In the speech from the Throne on October 25th, the New Brunswick government announced that it wanted to make more room for the private sector in health care.

The Coalition says after having transferred the management of ambulance services, extra-mural services, Tele-Care and NB Health Link to Medavie, Blaine Higgs now wants to go even further: he wants more health services to be provided by private companies.

Co-Chair Bernadette Landry is concerned privatization will further weaken the current system, “It steals workers from the public system which means less people working in the hospitals, less people working in health clinics, less people working in nursing homes.”

(Photo: TDCB)

She feels if something isn’t done, the healthcare system is going to break down, “It’s a very dire situation. It’s going very badly right now. We need to do something. The first thing the government needs to do is listen to those people who are working so hard right now. They’re the experts, and they know what they need. They should be listened to and they should be cared for. That’s not happening right now.”

Co-Chair Daniel Legere says many New Brunswickers also can’t afford a private system, “At the end of the day, every New Brunswicker has a Medicare card, but we don’t all have a Platinum card.”

Legere says the private sector is in business to appease its shareholders and to make a profit and that won’t work for all New Brunswickers.

The New Brunswick Health Coalition, which represents thousands of healthcare workers and community organizations from across the province, is calling on the Premier of New Brunswick to reverse his decision.

“It is the survival of our public healthcare system that is at stake,” the Coalition says.

New Brunswick NDP Leader Patti Chmelyk also attended today’s rally in support of the Coalition.

She says, On a daily basis we hear about people in New Brunswick who cannot access healthcare services. New Brunswickers are sick and tired about the ever-growing waitlist for a family doctor, the drastic shortages of emergency rooms, nurses and doctors and the response times for ambulances. Enough is enough!”

(Photo: TDCB)

(Photo: TDCB)