The travel nurse contracts: Who knew what, and when?

Article content

The provincial government and Health Minister Bruce Fitch won’t say exactly when they learned that New Brunswick’s two Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) had signed the now-controversial travel nurse contracts.

Worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the contracts have been the subject of increasing scrutiny since a recent Globe and Mail investigation revealed that several provinces had signed deals with private companies during pandemic-fuelled staff shortages. 

New Brunswick’s auditor general, Paul Martin, is now investigating the contracts. It’s unclear when his office’s probe will be finished.  

During a recent question period in the legislature, the Liberals peppered Premier Blaine Higgs about what he knew about the contracts, and when. But Fitch took the questions, largely ignoring them, deferring to Martin’s probe, and suggesting the Liberals need to wait for it to be completed. 

“This is what we know,” Fitch said. “We’ve asked the auditor general to look into this in order to understand all the nuances. 

“We were dealing with a time of crisis when we had a shortage of staff to provide adequate health care to the citizens of this province. We had our teams and health authorities react to meet that need. We’ve made it our number one priority to make sure our citizens are safe and healthy and have services in health care. So, Mr. Speaker, the auditor general will look at this and do a study. We’ll get a report, and we’ll understand all this.”

Questioned later by reporters, Fitch was unable to say exactly when he found out what was going on. 

“Look I don’t have any knowledge of the contracts, the details, things like that. They were contracted through the RHAs, and that’s why it’s … good that (Martin) will look at that, see if there’s anything untoward in the contracts,” he said. 

“I want the process to go through, and then we’ll see what comes out of that report, and we’ll go from there.”

Pressed on exactly when he found out about the contracts, Fitch said he’d “have to go back to my notes.” But he did say he was unaware of the first travel nurse contract signed between Vitalité Health Network and Ontario-based Canadian Health Labs (CHL).

Brunswick News then asked the health department for exact dates about when it, Fitch, and Deputy Health Minister Eric Beaulieu first learned about the contracts. 

Instead, only broad timelines were provided. 

“The department and Health Minister Bruce Fitch first became aware midway through 2022 that the RHAs were using travel nurses as a method to maintain critical health-care services due to ongoing staffing shortages,” spokesperson Sean Hatchard said in an email.

“In 2023, the Department of Health learned of two additional contracts between the Vitalité Health Network and Canadian Health Labs, which had already been signed.

“When Minister Fitch became aware the RHAs were facing possible budget overages in the second fiscal quarter of 2023-24, he sent the RHAs a letter in October 2023 urging them to find ways to manage their spending.”

Other questions about who knew what and when were asked during the health department’s recent appearance before a legislative committee. 

“The review done by the Globe and Mail is information that the department was also made aware of some time ago, and we’ve been working with Vitalité and Horizon in reducing the use of travel nurses across the board in the province,” Beaulieu said at the Feb. 21 meeting.

“It’s not an aspect that either the department, the minister or the RHAs wish to continue long term, but I will say it was necessary at the time (the CHL contracts) were signed.”  

Under questioning from Liberal health critic Rob McKee, Beaulieu said the department was aware of the signing of the first CHL contract, but the other two contracts it was informed of “after the fact.” He said the department came aware of the two other contracts late in the fiscal year of 2022-23.